Bellatrix Black glanced up at the clock, silently praying that he wouldn't be late. Her long, thin fingers tapped impatiently against her arm, and a look of intense distaste marred her strong features. The boy wasn't to be trusted, she'd told the Dark Lord time after time, but still he poured his faith into the young child. If Crouch was anything like his father, they shouldn't have let him near the Dark Lord with a ten-foot barge pole.
But no, the Dark Lord had told Bellatrix carefully and concisely that Bartimeus was a perfectly safe young addition to the ranks, despite how much Bellatrix detested the very mention of his name. So much had been laced with chance, and there was such a wide gap for the boy to fail. And when he did, Bellatrix would be there to laugh.
Almost quarter-past now, and the boy had kept her waiting fifteen minutes too long. Precisely midnight, she had instructed him through a series of untraceable parchments and messages. Midnight. Not fifteen minutes, not even fifteen seconds, late. Exactly midnight.
Despite her deep hatred for the boy, Bellatrix hadn't actually seen him before in her life. He was eighteen, just out of Hogwarts, and people said he had a promising future in the Ministry. That was only if he failed this, of course. But even then, if he failed to do as she—and, indeed, the Dark Lord—had instructed, there'd be more to pay than compensation.
With nothing else to do but wait in the cold, Bellatrix found herself wondering why the boy had even bothered taking the job. His father would be livid if he found out, as it was the Death Eaters precisely that Crouch Senior sought to destroy. But, Bellatrix consoled herself in thinking, the boy was a mystery, as were most people. His reasons were unknown and as far as she was concerned, they would stay that way.
With a tremendous sigh, Bellatrix looked up at the clock tower again. Twenty past. The boy would pay for making her wait, if he actually bothered to turn up. Bellatrix had just about resigned herself to failure when she heard soft footsteps approaching from behind her. No need to get her hopes up, it was just a cat or some other repulsive beast.
But no, as she turned around to shoo away the repugnant animal, a disheveled and pale figure came into her view. Tall and thin with a mop of dark hair and huge brown eyes, Bartimeus Crouch Junior cut a not-so-impressive figure as opposed to the tall, terrifying and recklessly beautiful Bellatrix.
'You're late, Crouch,' Bellatrix spat, arms folded across her chest.
Crouch didn't speak for a long time. For the briefest of moments, Bellatrix toyed with the idea that he had been frightened into silence, but that seemed simply ludicrous, as she'd barely spoken five words to the boy.
'Am I?' the boy asked, tilting his head slightly to the left, a lot like a curious dog. He glanced at his wrist, apparently looking at a watch. 'According to my watch I'm perfectly on time.' He flashed a smile at Bellatrix; she relayed it, slightly wary.
'Do you have everything?' Bellatrix tried to regain some sense of power, but found it incredibly hard to do so, with a crookedly grinning boy standing in front of her.
'Of course I do. What sort of idiot do you take me for?'
Bellatrix didn't feel it necessary to answer.