Hey there :) I know, it has been quite some time again, but here is another chapter! I want to ask you guys your opinion: would you like to see a bad ending (in which the Dark Lord wins) or a happy ending (in which the Order wins)? I have already made up my mind, but I am very curious to what you guys prefer :)
Leave me a comment and enjoy the chapter! X
The first two weeks went by really quickly. Barty had kept his hands to himself for so far, and he didn't bother Hermione that much. She was locked up in the room with all the possible defensive spells on it for the entire time, because Barty didn't want to risk her being exposed again. Apparently Snape had taken care of McGonagall and wiped her memories of the latest events, which meant that the Death Eater was safe from the Order's suspicions. Also, there was no indication so far that Barty was hurting, torturing, or killing any students. Or maybe he just didn't ever bring it up because he wanted to keep the peace between him and her. And Hermione was grateful for that, she didn't want to know what Barty was up to. She just had to wait for her perfect moment to neutralize the Death Eater, so that he wouldn't get his hands on either Ron or Harry. There were even times when she dared to start a conversation with the lunatic, when he seemed to be in a good mood. The Monday in the week before Christmas was one of those days.
"You look rather happy," Hermione said somewhat bitterly, when she saw Barty entering the room.
He smirked at her in a way that didn't quite comfort her.
"I am happy, my sweet Hermione, do you want to know why?"
Something told her that she didn't actually want to know why he was happy. But she didn't want to be rude either, that would only result in a fight, and she was doing a very great job at holding herself back so far. She didn't want to ruin that just now.
"Because… you have heard something from Skye?" she guessed, just to give him the feeling that she did actually care.
"No. It is so much better than that. Try again."
Her stomach turned. If he was really that happy about something, then it wouldn't be anything good.
"You- you found… you found Harry?" she stammered.
"If only that were true," he sighed. "No, wrong. Good guess, though. But no, it has something to do with Hogwarts."
"H-hogwarts?" Hermione stuttered, feeling slightly relieved that Harry hadn't shown up yet.
"Yes. Well, not all of it is good news. Because there is a traitor involved, excuse me, was. The Dark Lord has taken care of that traitor already. It was someone at Hogwarts. Do you want to guess who it was?" Barty asked, now leaning closer to Hermione, sitting down next to her on the couch.
"Probably one of your so-called Death Eater friends," Hermione said, trying desperately not to sound rude. But she had the idea that she was feeling in that. Because Barty raised one eyebrow at her, which meant that he had indeed heard the snappy undertone in her voice. But luckily he decided to ignore it.
"Snape. It was Snape. Apparently he had been teaming up with the Order all the time. He has been spying for them," Barty said, looking at Hermione's genuinely surprised face. "And spies are not tolerated. He has paid the price for his treason."
"Is he- dead?" Hermione asked, shocked at what she had just heard. She had never liked Snape, but hearing that he was on their side actually brought her mixed feelings. She felt surprise, guilt, and sadness at the same time. If Snape really had been on their side, then they had lost a good man in the Order. Not only the Order, but also Hogwarts.
"He is," Barty nodded. "And now for the best part… Hogwarts doesn't have a Headmaster anymore."
Hermione wasn't stupid. She knew where he was going, and why he was so happy. Fear rushed through her entire body, but she tried to wait calmly for what Barty was going to say next.
"So the Dark Lord has appointed me as Headmaster of Hogwarts," Barty said, confirming Hermione's expectations.
She was quiet for a very long moment. She didn't really have anything nice to say, so she could better just keep her mouth shut. But apparently her silence didn't please Barty either.
"Well? Aren't you going to say something?" he pressed.
Hermione shook her head in reply, knowing very well that she was both looking angry and scared at the same time. He had just gained even more power over the students, a kind of power that really shouldn't be in the hands of a wizard like Barty Crouch Jr. And since the Ministry was also already in the hands of the Death Eaters, there was no one he really had to answer to.
"Why not, if I may ask?" Barty asked again. His happy mood vanished immediately and was replaced by a darker look now.
"Promise me you will treat everyone fair and equal, and please don't torture or hurt any of the students," Hermione said softly, fighting back her tears.
"Is that what you are afraid of?" Barty scoffed. "As if I could not have done that already if I wanted to. I still have to follow my Master's wishes, you know. No torture in the lessons. Outside of the lessons, however… Snape was pretty soft on rules, don't you think? That might change now…"
"NO!" Hermione shouted, quickly recovering herself. "Sorry, I mean, no, please… You can't do that. Those students, they don't deserve that."
"How do you know? They need to show respect, they should learn who is the boss around here. Because there was obviously a lack of respect during the time Snape was Headmaster here."
"Don't hurt them! You can't just torture them just because you want to. Please. I am prepared to beg you for it if that is what it takes. Remember our agreement?"
"Yes. Our agreement. I wouldn't hurt you and your friends, remember? We didn't say anything about students," Barty hissed, coming even closer to her face. "But… I am sure we can arrange something together, since you are so eager to protect those children out there."
"Such as?" Hermione's face hardened, and she stared straight back into his eyes in defiance.
"Hmm… I am sure you can think of something."
"I am not going to have sex with you if that is what you are implying," Hermione snapped.
"Ah, ah," he tutted. "I thought you were going to be nice and obedient. But fair enough, we have agreed that I wouldn't touch you for as long as you would be obedient, and you have been behaving very well. So I will keep my word and I won't touch you."
Hermione couldn't help exhaling when she heard that. But there was still a dangerous tone in his voice and an evil glint in his eyes that didn't really reassure her. But surprisingly, he didn't elaborate on the subject any further. Instead, he stood up and left the room and went to his study.
After eating her dinner that had been brought by a house-elf, Hermione had almost forgotten about her conversation with Barty earlier. But he made sure to remind her of it.
"We get a visitor, my dear," he announced.
"Don't call me that," Hermione started. "Who is visiting us?"
"I'll call you whatever I like to call you," Barty growled angrily. "And the visitor is mainly for me. A sixth year Hufflepuff girl who has detention."
"What has that got to do with me?"
"Nothing, but you'll need to move to the study. I'll be needing the bedroom."
"What?" Hermione said slowly, then realizing what he was talking about. "WHAT?!"
"You heard me," Barty said calmly.
"No, no, no, no, NO! That is not what we agreed!"
"Oh, really? I don't think we have ever discussed what I can and cannot do to students. Only you and your friends. Besides, as Headmaster I am perfectly entitled to give punishments."
"Punishments, yes! But not rape! I am not going to sit in that study there knowing that you are raping an innocent underage girl!" Hermione shouted enraged.
"Not innocent. That is why she got detention," Barty continued eerily calm. "You don't need to sit in the study of course, you are welcome to watch," he added with a smirk. "Her memories will be erased anyways."
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS! YOU SICK, EVIL LUNATIC! I WILL MURDER YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS AS SOON AS I GET THE CHANCE!" Hermione yelled. "AND I HOPE YOU WILL ROT IN HELL!"
"So much for our agreement then," Barty growled. His face had lost all color and his eyes were almost spitting fire. His tongue was flicking out of his mouth nervously as he fisted her hair and forced her to stand up. "So I guess I won't have to be gentle with you either."
He started to drag her towards the study, ignoring her screams and he kicks. Then he suddenly stopped.
"No… I've got a better idea," Barty smirked. "I'll let you watch us. Maybe that will teach you not to reject me. Because really, I only want you. But since you didn't cooperate, I had to do this."
He threw her on the couch and mumbled some incantations so that Hermione wouldn't go anywhere. She also found that she couldn't speak anymore. She couldn't move and she couldn't speak. And she couldn't keep her eyes closed either. Her heart sank when she heard a knock on the door. Only a few seconds later, the Hufflepuff girl entered the room, followed by Barty who closed the door behind them. She was rather beautiful. She had blonde hair with piercing icy blue eyes. But she also looked so young. She was probably sixteen, but she was still far too young. But she clearly seemed to turn Barty on. She looked at Hermione's direction, but Hermione had the feeling that she was not really seeing her. So she was also invisible, or camouflaged at least.
"You have been a really naughty girl, haven't you, Keira?" Barty asked the girl whose name was apparently Keira.
"Y-yes, sir," the fear was obviously killing the girl. She was trembling all over. She wasn't stupid, she probably knew what was going to happen. Death Eaters were not exactly known for their morals.
"You are lucky that you are a beautiful young girl, therefore you will not receive a torture. If you behave, of course," Barty continued.
"Thank you, s-sir," Keira replied politely, exactly knowing what she was expected to answer.
"You are not in class anymore. I think you should get rid of that uniform of yours," Barty said hoarsely.
Keira did exactly what was asked from her. Hermione knew that this would probably never work that easily with her, if she were in that position, but Keira was not her of course. Keira probably knew that things would only get worse if she would disobey Barty now. Which was true, of course. He would only become more violent, and maybe even murderous. When the girl was only clad in her underwear, Barty sat down next to her.
"I'd love a little show," he grinned, his hand trailing down her arm.
Keira stood up and she started to grind against Barty's lap. His eyes were now burning with lust, and his hands started to feel up her breasts. His desire was now very obvious in his pants, and he was clearly done playing around, since he pushed Keira off him and started to undo his trousers and shirt. Then he ripped of the girl's bra and knickers, and he threw her on the bed. Still clad in his boxers, he started to kiss the girls neck, lips, and breasts before going down to business. He was obviously enjoying himself, since he was moaning all the time and talking dirty to the girl. His hands were everywhere; in her hair, on her legs, on her breasts…
"P-please, s-sir," Keira stammered, speaking up for the first time now in minutes.
"What," Barty growled slightly annoyed.
"I-I have n-never…"
Barty looked up at her, stopping with everything he was doing.
"Ah, so I got myself a virgin as well?" he smirked. "I won't hurt you, sweet thing. Really, you should be thanking me on your knees for not torturing you." After a longer silence, he even added something darker. "In fact… you are going to thank me on your knees. Later."
Something told Hermione that the only reason Barty was doing this was just to punish her again. She should not have yelled at him, he had been testing her patience. She should have just offered herself to him when he asked, now she had put this girl in danger. Although she had the feeling that it didn't really matter what she said or did. He was a criminal. There was no way he was going to listen to her, he would only do what he saw fit. Right now, he was mainly showing her what he could do, how much power he had over the students, over her. He just knew that after she had seen this, she would do anything he wanted. She had never really any power over him, and he wanted to show her that. In the most brutal way. It was only when Barty had obliviated the girl and sent her away, that he would release all the incantations he had used on her. But even when she could finally move again, she remained completely still. The once again fully clothed Barty look down on her with a smirk, obviously daring her to say anything. So she gave the arrogant bastard the satisfaction.
"You are a completely deranged maniac. You were just pissed off with me because I didn't want to be anywhere near you. Well, I only hate you even more now, if that were possible," she snapped, knowing that this was only going to piss him off even more.
"Next time you shout at me, or even threaten me, think of the consequences. Because you obviously thought I wouldn't carry out my promises," he growled. "Speaking about those threats you were throwing at me… did you actually mean them?"
"Yes."
"I'll make sure to remember that then, sweetheart. You broke our agreement, so there won't be any kindness from my side anymore. I tried to make an effort, you know? But you didn't appreciate any of it. So I guess it is best for you to live with me in fear again, don't you agree?"
"Is that what you want? You want me to fear you?" Hermione asked.
"I've tried hard enough to be nice. So yes. I'll go for the fear again. And sadly Potter is for the Dark Lord, but when I get my hands on the Weasley boy, I'll make sure to torture him to death in front of your eyes," Barty hissed. "Let's see how you like someone you love being murdered."
There was pure hatred in his eyes, and Hermione half expected him to cruciate her again. But surprisingly, he didn't. Instead, he left the bedroom and slammed the door hard. If she didn't know any better, she would think that he was being jealous and frustrated because she refused to show him any form of affection. But when had he shown her affection? He was being unreasonable, but she had to be careful around him. Especially now that he was Headmaster of Hogwarts. The only thing she could do was praying that he wouldn't actually get his hands on Ron, because definitely carried out his promises.
