Part Two, Chapter Eleven

Rodolphus seemed to be about to answer, but was interrupted by a loud banging sound coming from upstairs, followed quickly by the sound of glass shattering and two things crashing into each other.

Barty glanced up at the ceiling to where he could see the light fixtures shaking slightly, and then looked back at Rodolphus with a quizzical expression.

"That would be Bella," the Death Eater replied.

Rodolphus didn't offer any further explanation, but simply turned and began to head up the stairs. Deciding that he'd rather like to know what had caused the banging, Barty ignored Rodolphus' instruction to stay put and began to follow him upstairs. Realising he was being followed, Rodolphus paused on the first floor landing and turned to glare at Barty for a couple of moments, but then gave a roll of his eyes as if to say, 'well, if you must," and proceeded towards a room further down the corridor above the hallway. Barty followed a few feet behind Rodolphus and hung back a little as the older Death Eater opened the door to the room, slightly apprehensive about whatever it was Bellatrix had been doing in there. As the door was opened Barty could make out several shards of glass scattered across the floor, and in the corner of the doorway he could see a viscous red substance beginning to flow between them. He could also hear a faint chuckling coming from within the room as Bellatrix seemed to be laughing to herself.

Rodolphus remained standing in the doorway of the room, surveying the scene in front of him that Barty still couldn't quite make out. "Bella, what exactly have you been doing?" he said in a tone that seemed mildly annoyed.

Barty thought he heard Bellatrix laugh again. "Well, the mudblood bitch said she couldn't remember where they'd traced the apparition to, so I thought a hit to the head might jog her memory."

In the dim light, Barty could see Rodolphus frown as he looked at the pieces of broken glass scattered across the floor. "That was an expensive mirror."

"Oh really, Rodolphus," Bellatrix snapped back, "I'm trying to find out what has happened to our Master and you're more bothered about a mirror! Not really what I'd expect from someone who claims to be devoted to the Dark Lord."

Rodolphus definitely looked irritated. "Bella, you're not exactly…oh, you know what? You're right. It's a mirror. It's not even important. I do however need to talk to you about the visitor we've got standing in the hallway."

Barty sensed the atmosphere become much more tense as Bellatrix replied. "What visitor?"

As Rodolphus stepped further into the room Barty took that as his cue to follow, and was quite shocked by the sight he saw once he was inside. At one end of the room there was a large wooden frame to what must have once been a mirror, although now all the glass had been shattered and the various pieces scattered across the floor. Among the fragments at the bottom of the mirror was the unconscious body of a witch, who was bleeding heavily from several cuts where the glass had punctured her skin. There was a deep gash in her forehead and the skin around both of her eyes was purple and swollen, as if she'd subjected to a particularly nasty beating before being slammed against the mirror on the wall.

It wasn't just the sight of her in such a bloody mess that shocked Barty. It was the fact he recognised her. He knew her from work – her name was Laura Edmondson and she was secretary to one of the department's spell surveyors. He hadn't seen her today, but he'd just assumed she was still down at Godric's Hollow working on the investigation. Now it looked like that hadn't been the case.

Realising what Bellatrix must have been up to, Barty licked his lips nervously and gave a timid glance in her direction. She glared back at him.

"Crouch? What's he doing here?" Her question was directed at Rodolphus, and Barty thought that it was best he didn't speak.

"He tells me he's been kicked out by his father. Now it looks like he wants to know if he can stay with us."

Bellatrix was surveying Barty as if he was some kind of laboratory specimen she was about to experiment on, and even though Barty was trying his best to meet her gaze and not look intimidated, it was difficult not to cower under her stare. "His father doesn't know what he's been up to, does he?" Again, she addressed Rodolphus even though she kept her gaze locked on Barty.

Barty just shook his head, too nervous to say anything, but it was Rodolphus who vocalised his response. "He says not."

Suddenly, Bellatrix's whole demeanour changed and she gave a little laugh as she skipped over to Rodolphus, before resting a hand on his shoulder and leaning in close to stage-whisper, "Well, what do you think, darling? Do you think we should let the little boy stay?" It was quite clearly an exaggerated act, intended to wind Barty up, but he wasn't going to rise to the bait. Bellatrix enjoyed having that kind of power over people, but he didn't want to let her win. He'd spent too long having other people try and exercise power over him, and he'd come here to try and prove that he wasn't going to let himself be bossed around by anybody else. He wanted to show that he could manage just fine on his own, and even though he knew he'd be screwed if the Lestranges turned him down for a place to stay, he wasn't going to let them know that. He wasn't going to let Bellatrix Lestrange know just how desperate he was so that she could tease and torment him. Instead, he was going to pretend he didn't care.

Refusing to let her provoke him, Barty didn't react to Bella's teasing, but just kept watching her and Rodolphus with what he hoped was a neutral expression.

Rodolphus looked thoughtful. "Well, as long as you're alright with it I don't see any reason why not."

Bellatrix laughed again. "Oh, I think I'd be alright with it. Although, don't you agree that there should be some kind of payment? So the boy can show us his gratitude for letting him stay with us?"

Even though Barty was trying not to let himself get frustrated, he was somewhat riled by the way they were talking about him as if he wasn't even in the room, and he felt the need to assert himself. "Don't worry, even without my father's money I'm not so poor that I can't afford to pay rent."

Bellatrix fixed him with a harsh stare, and again Barty tried to hold her gaze even though he felt an overwhelming urge to look away. "I'm not talking about money, Crouch, what use do you think that would be to us?" Her tone was both cold and challenging. "I'm talking about something else. Something to show to us that it is worth our effort to have you staying in this house. I want to see a display of loyalty from you."

Barty wasn't sure where this was going, but he thought it couldn't be good. He swallowed nervously and licked his lips again, still struggling to look Bellatrix in the eye. "Like what?"

"You see that piece of mudblood scum over there?" Bellatrix said, indicating the unconscious body lying at the foot of the mirror. "She's got a record of the destinations of all disapparitions from Godric's hollow on Tuesday evening. One of those apparitions must be Wormtail, and it may even be possible that one of them is our Master. It's just a shame that the forgetful little bitch can't remember where exactly the apparition trail leads to."

As Barty realised where this was going he felt a growing sense of unease.

"You know who she is, don't you, Crouch?" Bellatrix spat at him.

Barty nodded. "She works in the Department for Magical Law Enforcement." His voice came out strangely choked.

"And that's where you work, isn't it?"

Again, Barty nodded.

"Well, tomorrow morning, she's going to go back into work. She's going to be all cleaned up and probably nobody's going to notice anything different about her. Except, of course, there will be something different about her. She's going to be under the Imperius Curse that you put on her, Crouch, and you're going to make sure she finds that apparition report she's been keeping in her desk and hands it to you. You're then going to bring it back to us and we're going to use it to help find our Master. I think that's a satisfactory way for you to prove your dedication to the Dark Lord, don't you agree?"

Barty didn't respond. He was still trying to process everything she'd just said. Even though he wanted to prove to her he was just as good a Death Eater as she was, he knew the risks would be immense. It was difficult to even comprehend doing something like this inside the Ministry of Magic, especially when he'd never done anything even remotely like this before.

Bellatrix turned to her husband. "Rodolphus?"

The Death Eater nodded. "Yes, I think that's a satisfactory way to prove to us that letting you stay here is worth the while."

Bellatrix turned back to Barty again, a manic glint in her eye as she spoke the challenge again. "Well, do you think you can do that, Crouch?"

Barty stared back at her, meeting her gaze with a look just as hard as her own. He'd reached a resolution. Despite the risks, despite the implications of going through with it, Bartemius Crouch Jr. was not one to back down from a challenge. He was just as good, just as loyal, as the rest of them, and he was going to prove it. When he answered her, there wasn't even a hint of uncertainty in his voice. "Yes, Bellatrix, I can."

A/N: I'm delaying the appearance of Martijn again, I'm afraid. He's just waiting to make his entrance, but I keep getting inspiration for other bits of the story that are getting in the way. Hope you don't mind waiting a bit longer.

Just to let you know, I've also done a video to go with this story which I've uploaded to YouTube. It's a sort of teaser trailer for what's to come, but there are a few red herrings and don't assume that what appears to happen in the video is actually what's going to happen. If anyone's interested I've put the link on my profile page, as they don't work when you try and upload it in a story.