It became more easy to live with all the new luxury and grandeur the longer Hermione was living in the middle of it. At first she had no idea how to behave, but after almost two months living in the new Crouch Manor, previously better known as Wentworth Woodhouse, she had started to really feel like the Lady of the house. Even the slave-like circumstances under which all her servants had to work started to bother her less. But she was soon pulled back to the harsh reality when taking a walk through the rose garden in the afternoon.
"Mrs. Crouch," a man hissed from behind her.
Hermione turned around confused at first, she was not yet used to being called 'Mrs. Crouch'. She saw an older man standing there, half hiding behind the tree.
"Are you alone, ma'am?" he asked carefully.
"Maybe. Depends," Hermione answered shortly. "Who's asking?"
"Paul Wilson, ma'am," the man answered. "Your gardener. At your service, ma'am."
He took of his hat politely, and Hermione smiled at him, seeing that he meant her no harm. Even if he did, she had a wand now. She would easily overpower him.
"I am alone," she said. "Why?"
"Forgive me, ma'am, I do not wish to speak ill of your husband, but... I know he is not a good man. He took over this house, from my old Master, pretending that he owns the place. And I have seen you, ma'am, I know that you disagree with him about a lot of things. It is thanks to you that we are being paid for our work, and you are treating us kindly. We are grateful to you for that, ma'am," Paul said, bowing for Hermione.
"Well, I am glad that I could be of help for you. But I am afraid I can't help you with any more rights, I wouldn't be able to persuade my husband, if that is why you wanted to see me. His Master, the Dark Lord, well... you know, I assume. Non magical people are not granted a lot of rights," Hermione sighed.
"I know, ma'am. But I have seen that you are different from them. You are not evil, you are not keeping us here as slaves. Your husband, ma'am, I am sorry for saying this, please forgive me, but I know he is a criminal. He is not a good person. I mean... where does he get the money from, to maintain all this land?" Paul said, gesturing around him.
"It is not your place to question my husband's finances, I believe," Hermione countered, raising her eyebrow.
"I- I am sorry, ma'am. It's just... I know you don't agree with him. And I wanted t-"
"If you must know, Mr. Crouch is rich. And he was already rich before the Dark Lord took over this country. He owns a lot of old money, he doesn't need to rob banks, if that is what you think. And taxes, of course, recently, he gets money from that, too. But you are right, he isn't exactly a saint. He is a murderer, and he tortures people who challenge him. I suppose he gets some extra money out of that, too. He is a criminal, but not as you know them. He is dangerous. Like really dangerous. And if he would ever find out that you have been talking about him behind his back like this to me, then he would kill you without a second thought. My husband, or any of his colleagues, are not to be messed around with. So now that you know that, you might want to think again about what you were going to say to me or ask me, because if you are thinking of acting against him... then I suggest you keep your mouth shut," Hermione said. "That's a warning. Not a threat."
"I know, ma'am. I know he is dangerous. And I would never dare to challenge him in person. But you are reasonable, ma'am, Mr. Anderson, he has told me-"
"Kyle? Kyle Anderson?" Hermione asked, though she already knew there wouldn't be any other Andersons around. "Has he been talking to you?"
Kyle had only been around for five times by now, though his parents had still not visited. They have rejected Barty's invitation repeatedly, which only made Barty suspect them even more. He didn't trust Kyle's family, and Hermione had the feeling that his suspicions were not unfounded. And she was usually right about that sort of things. She could feel that Kyle strongly disagreed with everything the Death Eaters did. He always avoided any political subjects, and he never talked about his opinion on the Dark Lord.
"Yes, ma'am. Kyle Anderson, the wizard who is with the young Miss Crouch," Paul confirmed.
"And? What did he say then?"
"He said... that you would help him. That you would help us. We could never stand up against a wizard, but other wizards or witches could. Mr. Anderson is helping us, he asked me to ask you for your help as well."
"So you are acting against my husband. And Kyle is your leader? Come on, that is ridiculous. And what are you planning to do? This house is secured and protected with Dark Magic, something Kyle hasn't got any knowledge of whatsoever. And then what... you want to kill Mr. Crouch?" Hermione scoffed.
"Mr. Anderson was hoping that you could help us with the defenses of the house, ma'am."
"And you want to kill Mr. Crouch?" Hermione repeated herself.
Paul now looked somewhat uncertain.
"Y-yes, ma'am. That was indeed our intention..."
"And why isn't Kyle here himself to ask me for my help?"
"He- he couldn't, he said, ma'am, because Mr. Crouch is already suspicious, and..."
"That is Master Crouch for you, and I don't know with how many you have been plotting against my husband, but I suggest it stops here. What you are doing is dangerous .Very dangerous. You should be very grateful that I am willing to offer you a second chance, and that I won't tell my husband about this for now, but if I find out that you are still planning on killing him or sabotaging him in any way, then you will have to deal with me. Or him, if you are very unlucky. I am not helping you. And I would like to have a word with Mr. Anderson. So if he returns to the house, you can tell him to visit me first," Hermione said sternly.
"Yes, my Lady, of course," Paul bowed deeply. "Thank you. It- I will- we will..."
"Get out of my sight," Hermione hissed.
Paul ran away quickly, and Hermione noticed that all the color had left his face. She didn't mean to frighten him that much, but he had to understand that he should not try to play such dangerous games when he had not even the smallest amount of knowledge about magic. He had no idea how badly things could end for him. Besides, it was not Paul Hermione worried about, that was Kyle. It seemed that Kyle was trying to attack from within as a trusted part of family. He was starting to earn both Hermione's and Barty's trust, mainly because Skye trusted him. But now... it looked like he was only trying to sabotage them, on behalf of the Order. Maybe he was even using Skye to get close enough to do it. That thought only made Hermione furious. Skye obviously really liked Kyle, so the thought of him using her just to plan a death trap for her father... It was time that she had a good talk with Kyle, to make sure what his intentions were.
It was early in the afternoon, right after lunch, when Kyle returned to the house. And as expected, he was sent to talk to Hermione first. She walked with him to the kitchens, where she knew Barty would never come. There were far too many Muggles there for his liking. So in the kitchens, they could talk safely. She quickly charmed the kitchen doors so that Muggle servants wouldn't be able to eavesdrop.
"One of our gardeners came to me today, with some very unsettling news," Hermione said straight to the point. "And I think you know what I am talking about."
Kyle's eyes shifted nervously through the entire room, but he refused to look Hermione in the eye.
"Oh, yeah, well... I- I didn't- what do you mean, unsettling?" Kyle asked.
"When someone is plotting to get my husband killed, then I call that unsettling. What shocks me even more, is that you thought I would take a part in this. But I am glad you did think so, because now I can put a stop to it. What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"I thought-" Kyle cleared his throat to sound less squeaky, "I thought you would help me. Since you don't belong at the Dark side, you are one of us, you belong with the Order. Just like all your friends. And I can't kill that Death Eater on my own, I need someone who is close to him, someone who could influence him. Some of the Muggles here are prepared to help, but I need you too. If we kill him, then we are one step closer to victory. The victory of the good side, the side of the Order."
Hermione shook her head.
"What you are doing is dangerous. You are bringing the lives of Muggles in danger, and your own life. This war is over. The Dark Lord has won. And I love Barty, it may have escaped your notice, but I am pregnant with his child. I want to stay with him. Once you get on good terms with him, he is not such a bad person. You should try it."
"This war isn't over," Kyle hissed. "How can you say that? After all you have been through!"
"Are you honestly that naïve? There are followers of the Dark Lord all over this place. You wouldn't make it out alive. We are not living here unprotected. You kill Barty, you kill yourself."
"That's why I need you."
"Stop it! Just stop it! I am not helping you with killing my husband! And if that isn't enough yet, you are also playing around with Skye. That is what really makes me furious. Threatening a Death Eater is one thing, but using an innocent girl is another," Hermione snapped.
"Innocent? She's a Death Eater in training. Ready to follow her dear dad's footsteps!"
Now Hermione couldn't hide her anger anymore. She drew her wand and pushed it against Kyle's throat with violence she didn't even think she possessed.
"You are going to tell Skye the truth, and you will apologize to her. Preferably before dinner. Preferably now. If you haven't told her by then, if you haven't packed your bags by then and fled this house never to return, I will tell Barty about you. I may not want you dead, but he definitely does."
"You- you wouldn't," Kyle said, his eyes widening.
"Does it look like I'm joking?" Hermione growled furiously.
"I see, I misjudged you. You really changed into a Death Eater yourself, didn't you?"
"LEAVE! NOW!" Hermione yelled in anger, her wand shaking in her hand.
Kyle quickly ran away, half tripping over his own feet in his rush to reach the door. Hermione lowered her wand as soon as he was out of sight. He had been right, she was becoming just like a Death Eater. The only difference between her and a real Death Eater was that she still didn't want to kill someone in cold blood. She couldn't do that. She didn't want to see people being in pain either, although that time with Amycus was an exception. And Kyle was really getting close to being hated by her too.
Of course she wasn't able to hide her anger very well when she left the kitchens. But she had no choice but to return to Barty, he was already expecting her. If she wouldn't show up for teatime, he would come looking for her anyways. And especially now that she was pregnant, he worried about her more than usual. He had to come looking for her earlier that week, when she had forgotten the time while reading a book in the library, and he traumatized three Muggles in the process of finding her. So to prevent that he would lose his shit again, she had to return to him in time.
But Barty wasn't blind, he could see that something was wrong. So when she entered the room where they would have their tea, he immediately took both her hands in his and he sat her down on the couch.
"What happened, what's wrong?" he asked her immediately, his brown eyes boring into hers.
"I'm dealing with it, it's nothing I want to bother you with. Not yet anyways," Hermione said dismissively.
"You are not dealing with anything on your own, got that? I am here to protect you and to help you with whatever you need. So tell me," he pressed.
"Only if you promise me not to interfere, alright? Because I am dealing with this without you."
"I can't promise you that. You know that."
"Then I won't tell you."
"Oh, come on... Fine, fine, I promise you that I won't interfere. Now tell me what is bothering you."
"Okay. Well, I found out that Kyle is still working actively for the Order. He used Skye to get closer to you, and now he is planning on killing you. He wanted my help, that is how I found out. There you go, that is what is bothering me," Hermione growled, the anger inside her still boiling. "But I talked to him, and if he listened to me, he is telling Skye the truth now and then he will leave this place for good. We won't see him again."
Barty's eyes darkened, and Hermione got a really pleasant feeling when she saw that. Not because she wanted Kyle dead, but because now she could share her anger with someone. And that felt good.
"How do you know he is talking to her? How do you know he is not killing her?" Barty asked, and suddenly the pleasant feeling left Hermione as soon as it had come.
"I-I don't know, but- he isn't the type who would-"
"He isn't the type? Hermione! He confessed that he wants to kill me! Of course he would!" Barty yelled, standing up.
"No! Stop it! I told you, I am dealing with this. You promised me not to interfere," Hermione objected, standing up as well.
"My daughter might die," Barty hissed. "Now stand aside, or you will regret it."
"Excuse me?" Hermione raised her eyebrows. "I will regret it? What are you going to do to me then? Hurt me? Hurt your unborn baby?"
"No, no, of course not, love," Barty groaned, "I'm sorry, really, darling. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that. I would never hurt you, or the baby. It's just... I say things, when I am angry-"
"Yes, yes, you lose yourself. I know. But you need to calm down. Kyle isn't going to murder Skye. He wanted to kill you, not her. Relax and sit down," Hermione ordered, pushing Barty back down again.
"Thank you for telling me."
"Yeah. Now don't make me regret it."
Hermione grabbed a cup of tea that had just been served by one of the servants. She was happy that she hadn't told Barty that some of the servants were also involved in this complot, because then he would have started to treat them even worse than he already did. It was all fine right now. Kyle would disappear, and Barty would forget about him eventually. She had dealt with it.
At least, if Kyle wouldn't show up for dinner that evening.