Playing with Fire

Chapter 82

Word had indeed gone out about Hermione's parents visiting Hogwarts. And the Death Eaters didn't take it well, as Barty had already predicted. A special meeting had been arranged at Malfoy Manor to discuss the matter with the Dark Lord. Hermione did feel a little bit guilty about the whole situation. After all, she had pushed Barty to invite her parents to the Great Hall even though he said it was a bad idea. Hermione was quite nervous for the meeting, since she had no idea what to expect, but Barty also seemed to be very stressed.

It was a hot day at the start of June, almost the end of the school year. The meeting would start at 7 pm sharp, so they made sure to arrive three minutes earlier. Especially since they didn't want to keep the Dark Lord waiting. There wasn't a very warm welcome, only judging faces from the other Death Eaters. When Barty and Hermione entered the room, with Wormtail leading them the way, all eyes were focused on them. Only Bellatrix would still give Barty a smile when she saw him. No one talked, and it was terribly silent in the room. At 7 pm exactly, the Dark Lord also arrived. Everyone stood up and bowed, and they only sat down when the Dark Lord did so.

"My friends," the Dark Lord started, the first words that had been spoken since the arrival of Hermione and Barty. "We are gathered here because of several complaints about our Barty. I suggest Lucius gives us a full description of the facts, as he was the one to initiate the meeting."

"Yes, thank you, my Lord," Lucius started. Of course, they could have known that this meeting was his idea. "Word has gone around that Crouch has been a little bit too close with Muggles, my Lord. I had my suspicions before, but now he has been inviting two Muggles, the parents of his wife, to dine in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. On top of that, he has spent Christmas with an entire Muggle family, and his own staff at his house fully consists of Muggles who get paid by him. All this together seems traitorous to me, my Lord, as much as it pains me to say that. I believe his muggleborn wife has had the most negative impact on him."

"So what do you propose, Lucius?" the Dark Lord asked.

"I wish to know if this is normal behavior for a Death Eater, to bring shame to Purebloods like this. I want clear rules on what is and isn't allowed when concerning Muggles, and I want consequences for breaking those rules. Allowing Muggles to dine with a Pureblood at the same table is treason to me, my Lord, and we shouldn't allow it if we want to keep our status and authority in this country, or in this world," Lucius said.

"Very well, Lucius, my friend... Who else agrees with this?" the Dark Lord asked.

More than half of the Death Eaters raised their hands, including Bellatrix. Hermione hadn't expected anything else of her, since she was passionately against the existence of Muggles. She did however expect that some of the Death Eaters had been bribed by Lucius to support him. For some reason, it was Lucius' ultimate goal to ruin Barty, to knock him off his position as the most favored Death Eater. Maybe that rivalry came from jealousy.

"What do you think of Muggles, Mrs Crouch?" Lucius asked Hermione suddenly.

All eyes, including the Dark Lord's, were suddenly resting on her. But she wasn't planning on letting Lucius break her. She had never allowed him to do so before.

"I support the Dark Lord and my husband in every desicion they make," she replied, staring Lucius coldly in his eyes.

"That's not an answer to my question, girl," Lucius pressed on.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him when he talked to her in such a denigrating manner, but her husband was already defending her.

"She's my wife, your colleague, you'd do well to address her with some respect," Barty snarled.