A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating, I've been writing tons of other stuff recently but I've decided to put all that on hold now to get back to focussing on this. I've just finished a Doctor Who crossover fic I've been working on for a while and I did start trying to write more DW fanfics, but actually I found I was getting a bit tired of it. As much as I like David Tennant's nice characters they aren't half as interesting as his evil ones, so here's a bit more of Barty.

Part Two, Chapter Twenty-Three

Barty was fuming with rage when he left Gwen's house that evening. Not at Gwen, but at Westerbeck for managing to work it out, and even more than that he was angry with himself for having gotten mad at Gwen. It wasn't her fault, but how in hell had Westerbeck known? Barty had thought he'd been discreet, silently casting the counter-charm with his wand still in his pocket, but somehow the Dutchman had still been able to tell he'd done something. Even though Gwen hadn't seemed to be following what Westerbeck was on about, Barty had been able to work it out: the sneakoscope thing had been deactivated, that was why it hadn't gone off. And if Barty wanted it to stay that way he was going to have to do something.

The counter-charm to what Westerbeck was doing was well beyond advanced NEWT level, but then Barty had always prided himself on being able to master spells most wizards struggled to get the hang of. Without knowing what specific spell Westerbeck was casting on the sneakoscope Barty had had to use an adaptive counter charm: it would do the opposite of any other spell that was cast nearby, and the whole point of it was that it was covert. So how had Westerbeck known what he was doing? Barty hadn't screwed up the spell, he knew that much, otherwise the sneakoscope no doubt would have started going off. But the Dutchman had still known something was wrong.

Barty's hands balled into fists in anger, realising he was going to have to be more careful around Sander Westerbeck in future. He'd love nothing more than to hex the bastard all the way back to Amsterdam, or wherever the hell he was from, but he knew the untempered animosity he felt wasn't solely to do with the fact that Westerbeck seemed to suspect him. If he was honest with himself, Barty knew it was entirely down to jealousy.

Gwen liked Westerbeck. She seemed to enjoy being with him and she stuck up for him when she thought Barty was winding him up. Barty couldn't help but feel a bitter pang of envy at that thought. He wanted it to be him she loved being with, not Westerbeck, although he thought he could understand why Westerbeck had managed to charm her so much. He took her for ice cream, gave her gifts and checked up on her when he was worried about her. He even got to see her at work, whereas whenever Barty tried to do that it only got him into trouble. But Westerbeck shouldn't be anything to her. All he was was a client, whereas Barty was her boyfriend. It was his right to be the one who got to do those kind of things for her.

Barty flexed his fingers again before balling his hands into even tighter fists. It felt like Westerbeck was trying to push him out of the picture, acting more like Gwen's boyfriend than he did. Well, Barty wasn't going to let him get away with it. He knew he'd been unfair on Gwen and she was probably upset with him right now, but he was going to make it up to her, and make it up to her in such a way that Westerbeck couldn't even begin to compare to it. That was what she deserved.

He was still smirking at the thought of what he could do to get back at Westerbeck when he apparated back to the house. As he arrived in the hallway he was more than a little surprised to find the house was completely dark and silent. He'd expected Bellatrix and Rodolphus to be waiting for him, but all the lights were out and the house seemed strangely empty. He took a few steady steps forward towards the kitchen, pushing all thoughts of Gwen and Westerbeck to the back of his mind as he realised something might be wrong. Have they been found out? he wondered as he stepped through the kitchen door, drawing his wand.

His eyes scanned the kitchen for a few moments, nervously looking to see if anything was out of the ordinary, but just as he registered a flicker of movement in the corner of his vision he heard a furious voice cry out, "Stupefy!" and he felt himself be knocked off his feet and to the floor. Gritting his teeth, he realised that once again he'd been too slow to respond to the attack. He was going to have to work on that.

"Expelliar…" he began to counter, but before he had chance to finish he felt his own wand be ripped out of his hand and somebody was on top of him, hands pushing his wrists to the floor to prevent him from trying to get up.

Barty stared up into black eyes that were wide with fury. "Where have you been?" Bellatrix yelled at him, utterly livid.

He glared right back up at her and tried to push her off, but she quickly moved her hand to slap him round the face. Barty gave a grunt of pain as her hand made contact, but she was still pinning him to the floor. "If you've done anything to lead them to us…" she spat, her voice dripping with rage as she leaned closer to Barty, her face only inches from his.

"Well, I haven't," he snarled, "So get the fuck off of me." He started to sit up but she violently pushed him back down. He tried to shove her away again but she moved her left hand away from his arm to press the tip of her wand into his throat. At the sharp sensation biting into his skin he went still again and instead just glared at her. He knew just how dangerous Bella could be when she was angry.

"Then where were you?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper but somehow more threatening than ever.

"I had to find out some stuff," he said in answer, hoping she was going to let him up now so he could give her the documents but she didn't move.

"Really?" she taunted, pressing her wand harder against his throat. "Because you've been gone for hours Crouch, and you didn't think to tell us what you were doing, which seems like pretty suspicious behaviour for someone in your position."

A hollow laugh escaped him as he realised what she was implying. "You think I'm in league with them? Think I'm spying on you, Bella? Believe me, I'd rather die than do anything to help those bastards."

She smirked at him. "That's a rather big claim to make, and I'm not sure if I should believe you. I might just have to do something to test it."

She dragged the tip of her wand across his skin and he let out a hiss of pain. There was a manic glint in her eye and he felt his heart rate quicken as he wondered what she might be thinking. What was she going to do to him? "Bella, for fuck's sake…"

"Bella!"

The sound of a voice barking Bella's name suddenly cut Barty off. His eyes flickered over to the kitchen entrance to see Rodolphus standing in the doorway and looking sternly down at both of them. As Barty realised that he was lying on the kitchen floor with Rod's wife on top of him he suddenly felt a surge of heat rush to his face. Bella didn't look at her husband, but as she noticed Barty's embarrassment her sadistic grin widened even further.

"So he's turned up then?" Rod said, raising an eyebrow at the pair's awkward position but not commenting on it.

"He has," Bella said, still with her wand pressing into Barty's neck, "Although maybe we would have found him earlier if you'd been looking more thoroughly." The final part of that sentence was directed rather disdainfully at her husband.

"Well, now that he's here we can ask him where he's been," Rodolphus responded with more than a note of irritation in his voice. "So Crouch, where were you?"

Barty's eyes flickered from Rodolphus back to Bella but he didn't answer immediately. Bella had moved her wand so that it was pressing rather uncomfortably into his trachea and he knew that it would only hurt if he tried to talk. If she wanted answers she was going to have to let him up.

Bella, however, seemed to have no intention of moving. She just continued to glare down at him and he looked back up at her nervously. His mouth was open slightly and his tongue darted out of his mouth to run over his bottom lip, as was his habit when he was nervous. He knew he should try and be more careful when it came to hiding his emotions, but the action was involuntary and he often didn't even realise he was doing it. Bella however had noticed and she gave him a sinister grin, taking it as a sign that he was scared. "Answer him!" she yelled at Barty, jabbing her wand even harder into his neck.

Barty sucked in a gasp of pain as the point of her wand bit into his windpipe, but it was too painful to move his throat muscles to vocalise a response. Bellatrix continue to glare expectantly at him, waiting for him to answer, but then he heard Rodolphus give a sigh before speaking. "Bella, just let him up. If he was going to bring the aurors to us they would be here by now, I don't think he's done anything untrustworthy."

Bellatrix turned her head to glare furiously at her husband for a second, but then she abruptly stood up and backed away, allowing Barty to pick himself up of the floor. Barty inhaled deeply as he stood up and swallowed several times to alleviate the sensation of something pinching his windpipe, but he didn't put up a hand to rub his neck, not wanting to show any more signs of weakness. He glanced briefly at Rodolphus for a moment, before fixing his gaze on Bella with an indignant glare. "Something happened at the department today that I thought might be a lead. Turns out it wasn't, but I thought I'd follow it up," he said rather angrily, thinking that after the way she'd just treated him he didn't want to tell Bellatrix anything about the snake, "But anyway, here's what you were after," he spat, reaching into his robes and taking out the apparition report which he thrust violently at her.

She snatched it off of him and shot him a glare before unfolding it and starting to read. She stared at the parchment for a few seconds in silence, and Barty watched as her expression grew increasingly frustrated. "Four untraceable disapparitions," she said, paraphrasing the document, "That must have been us going back to Malfoy's. One scrambled trail to the forest they weren't able to follow, that must have been Wormtail. A dozen or so apparitions in the vicinity which must have been the aurors; and absolutely nothing else. Well that was bloody useful, wasn't it?" she spat in frustration, glaring at Barty as if it was his fault.

Barty glared right back. "Well, just be glad you were untraceable," he said, "Because we've got something else to be worrying about." He took out the other document he'd taken from Laura's desk and held it out to them. They both eyed it with looks of apprehensive curiosity and Rodolphus began to reach out to take it off him, but Bellatrix snatched it away from him first. Even as she began to unfold the piece of parchment Barty began to explain what was on it. "Karkaroff's requested a second hearing," he told them, "He wants to do a bargain. Information in exchange for a reduced sentence."

As he disclosed that information he saw Rodolphus' eyes widen, but Bella just continued to glare at him. "We're already on top of their list of suspects," she said dismissively, "I doubt he has anything to gain by giving them our names. And as for the others, you've seen how cowards like Malfoy are already trying to distance themselves from the Dark Lords true followers. Karkaroff himself's a coward and if he hands over any other traitors then they all deserve to spend their lives in Azkaban."

Barty just stared at her, unsure whether she'd missed the point he was getting at or if she just didn't care. "But what about me?" he said, the pitch of his voice rising slightly as he began to feel panic, "He knows about me. What if he hands me in?"

Bella just looked at him with an expression of complete indifference. "Well, I don't see why that should be our problem. Unless you were thinking that you might be able to bargain with information about us too, in which case…" she began to raise her wand again and Barty was preparing to back off, but Rodolphus intervened.

"He won't, Crouch," Rod said in a tone of absolute certainty.

Barty looked at him, still not convinced. "What makes you so sure?"

"Because he wants to have his sentence decreased, not worsened," Rodolphus explained, "Your father's one of the most senior members of the Ministry, Crouch, which makes any accusation of you an indirect attack on him. If Karkaroff names you as a Death Eater he's more likely to get himself thrown back into Azkaban immediately and have his sentence upped for making false accusations and contempt of court. Besides, you were only with us a week before he managed to get himself captured. Even if he dared try and name you he hasn't got any evidence to back it up."

That was true, Barty thought, but he still couldn't stop himself feeling nervous and panicked at the prospect of what might happen if Karkaroff were to name him. He knew he wouldn't avoid a life sentence in Azkaban just because of his father. If anything, he thought that it only made the harshest sentence possible all the more likely. "Right," Barty said, sounding somewhat calmer as he realised Rod's argument made sense. "So now what?"

"What do you mean, 'now what'?" Bellatrix suddenly snapped, "You haven't exactly been much help to us so far. The deal was you could stay here if you proved your loyalty and I don't see that you've done that."

He glared right back at her. "Well, it's not exactly my fault the apparition report was fucking useless, is it?"

"Maybe not," she snarled, "But you didn't exactly send…" She was beginning to take a step towards him as if she might be about to try and attack him again, but Rodolphus put up his arm to stop her.

"Bella," he said calmly, "He's done what we asked him to and no doubt he's spent the entire day worrying about this business with Karkaroff. Give him a break."

Bella shot him a glare and then turned back to Barty. "Alright," she said, "Since this perhaps wasn't the best opportunity for you I'll give you one more chance to prove your worth to us." She raised her wand again and Barty watched it nervously, but then she said, "Accio wand," and Barty's wand flew off the floor into her hand. She held it out to him and he took it off her rather roughly. "Right then, Crouch," she said abruptly, "I've got one more task for you." She turned and headed out of the kitchen.

Rodolphus looked like he might try and stop her for a moment, but then he stood to one side to allow Barty to follow her. Barty gave him a slightly nervous glance before following Bella out into the hallway and up the stairs. She led him through into one of the empty bedroom and Barty felt his stomach squirm uncomfortably as he realised this was where they'd kept Laura last night. As he entered the room and looked in front of him he saw that she was still there, tied up and unconscious on the floor.

Barty looked from Laura to Bella, who smirked at him as she noticed the discomfort written all over his face.

"What's she still doing here?" Barty asked.

"Well, we've been interrogating her all afternoon trying to find out what had happened to you," Bellatrix replied as she crossed to Laura and pointed her wand at her. Barty watched as Laura began to stir but Bella continued talking. "But since you're here now I suppose we don't really need to do that anymore, so," she said, turning to face Barty as Laura blinked her eyes open and stared around her in utter terror. She was gagged, preventing her from screaming, but Barty could see the fear in her eyes.

Bellatrix smirked at him. "So now you can kill her."

Barty just stared at her for a few seconds, not quite comprehending. "What?"

"Kill her," Bellatrix repeated quite simply.

Barty was still struggling to grasp what she was asking. Kill her. Actually kill her. He'd always known she was probably going to have to die; it was unavoidable, but he'd never really considered that he would be the one to do it. "But…I…I've never…"

"There's a first time for everything," Bella said, still smirking at him. "Come on, Barty. If you want to truly serve the Dark Lord well then you're going to have to learn."

Barty glanced briefly up at her. That's the first time she's used my first name, he realised, but then he found himself drawn to looking back at Laura, seeing the terrified expression in her tear filled eyes. Quite pathetic really, he thought, but then why was he still so hesitant to do what Bella had asked him to do?

He was gripping his wand tightly but it was still in his hand by his side, as he felt unable to bring himself to raise it. Bellatrix began to take a few steps towards him and he heard Rodolphus say her name from somewhere behind him, almost like a warning, but she ignored him. In a matter of seconds she was standing right beside Barty and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Don't be afraid," she muttered softly, "She's just a stupid mudblood bitch. The Dark Lord wants her dead. You'd be doing him an honour if you killed her."

Barty let her words wash over him. An honour. That's what this would be to the Dark Lord. Something he would be valued and respected for. After all, what was the worth of this pathetic little mudblood's life compared to that? Bella was right, this was what the Dark Lord wanted.

But still, I'm actually going to have to kill her.

Even though he tried to reason with himself he couldn't stop the doubt plaguing his mind. His heart was racing and his breath was coming in shallow gasps. He gripped his wand tighter to make sure the sweat on his palms didn't cause him to drop it. Beside him Bella leaned in closer and whispered to him again. "You think you're worth anything to the Dark Lord? Then prove it."

Worth anything…the words seemed to resonate in his mind as the full scope of their meaning began to become clear to him. Laura was still staring up at him, her expression pleading, tears streaming down her face, but it barely seemed real to him any more. What was real was his beliefs, and his loyalty, and his faith that the Dark Lord would return.

Bella had asked him to prove it, and prove it he would.

Barty raised his wand, relishing the feel of the words as they began to form on his lips.

"Avada Kedavra."

A/N: I wasn't really sure if I was going to have him actually do it, but I think I made the right call in the end. He does actually need to do some evil stuff in this story before torturing the Longbottoms - he can't just go straight in with being a full-on sadist, I think there needs to be some build up. I'm making myself a bit worried for Gwen though, because I don't quite know how she's going to react when she finds out about him and how he responds to that. But that's part of why I enjoy writing this story so much, I don't always know exactly how things are going to turn out.