Playing with Fire

Chapter 51

Hermione followed Barty downstairs to the small rooms that used to function as laundry rooms. But since Barty had decided the rooms could be better used as prisons, the laundry was now elsewhere, while the small chambers were now minimalistic and basic rooms without any furniture expert for beds and toilets. In one of those room was Kyle, sitting on the floor with a blank look in his eyes. He definitely had lost a lot of weight during the last two weeks.

"Don't interfere. This is my call," Hermione said to her husband, opening the door.

"Fine. Just hurry up, I want to torture the sumg little boy," Barty replied.

"You're not torturing anyone if he is cooperative," Hermione said sternly, earning a pout from Barty.

Then she looked down at Kyle, who was not giving any sign of life. He was still staring in front of him.

"You hear that, Kyle? You tell me everything I want to know, and I will make sure you won't get hurt. Or your parents," Hermione said. "But I do need you to tell me everything the Order has been up to."

"Safe?" Kyle repeated softly, his eyes showing hope.

"Yes, safe. You and your family. All you have to do is talk."

She saw how Kyle glanced at the Death Eater who was standing behind her.

"He is not going to hurt you, not on my watch," Hermione told him.

That made him calmer. Kyle shifted nervously, as if he was weighing his options.

"If you don't start to talk," Hermione started her threat, though she tried to sound as kindly as possible, "I will let my husband deal with you. And that won't end well for either you nor your family."

"I'll tell you everything I know," Kyle said. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Why did you come here?" Hermione proposed.

"Well, the initial plan was to find out what the next moves were from the Death Eaters, and to find out more information about Horcruxes since Potter did not have the chance to finish it," Kyle started. "We sent people to get to know followers of You-Know-Who and to win their trust. We even found some of them willing to spy for our side."

"Who?" Barty interrupted sharply.

"Shh, not now," Hermione said sternly.

She saw how much Barty wanted to find out who the traitors were and how much he wanted to make them pay. But this was not his moment, this was hers. And he knew it as well as she did. If the Death Eaters were going to trust her, she had to be the one to deliver the traitors to the Dark Lord.

"You can write the names down after you have finished," Hermione said. "Go on."

"Yes... So... That was the initial plan. To find information and to get more and more people to our side. But then when I was with Skye, I found out that it was way more effective to find out about the weak spots in the Death Eaters circle. I found out that there is a lack of trust within your group, and I found that no one truly supports You-Know-Who. I have been talking to Gregory Goyle, for example, who only serves out of fear."

"I support the Dark Lord," Barty argued. "And lots of others do."

"And lots of others don't," Kyle challenged, which earned him a malicious glare from the Death Eater. "The Order wanted to exploit that mistrust further, by setting up Death Eaters against each other, for example."

"Were you planning on doing that through Skye?" Hermione asked.

Kyle nodded, avoiding Hermione's eyes nervously.