Playing with Fire

Chapter 47

The next morning, the couple left early to their Mansion to have breakfast there. Hermione had the feeling that Barty had really relaxed a bit thanks to their little trip the other day, but when they encountered the first suspicious servant, that feeling disappeared straight away. They were heading for their bedroom when a man came out their room and froze on the spot. And the fact that he froze made him suspicious, besides the fact that he had no business in the master bedroom at that time. But he composed himself quickly, bowing politely for the couple.

"Spare me your formalities," Barty said gruffly without letting the man speak. "What were you doing here?"

"I-I was cleaning, master," the man replied nervously.

"Cleaning with what?"

"With... With this..." the man stammered, realizing that he wasn't holding any cleaning equipment.

"Don't lie to me. I hate it when people try that. And I have killed for less. So tell me... What were you doing in there?" Barty repeated his question.

But the man didn't answer, he seemed to have a panick attack.

"Calm down, you have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide," Hermione tried to reassure him, but she could already tell that the poor man did have something to hide, and was therefore right to be scared. "Why don't you tell us your name first?"

"Yes, ma'am, my name is Bernard, ma'am," the servant said with a small voice.

"Bernard?! The Bernard from the cleaning?" Barty asked with anger seeping through his voice.

"Y-yes, sir," Bernard said.

"Didn't that little kitchen maid bring you the message? Didn't she tell you what would happen to traitors?"

When he got a small nod from Bernard, Barty took a couple of steps forward that made the man shrink away.

"You'll look far worse than her by the time I am done with you if you don't tell me what you did in our bedroom," he growled.

Bernard shook his head furiously, tears welling up in his eyes. Hermione had the feeling that whatever he had done, it was so bad that he couldn't tell Barty. Even if he risked a torture.

"You don't want to play games with me, servant," Barty hissed. "If I have to enter your mind to find out, you'll be in even more trouble."

"Please... Please, sir, I am not- I didn't want t-to... Please don't kill me, I have a child..." Bernard stammered.

"What did you do?" Barty asked again, his teeth bared and his tongue flicking out of his mouth occasionally, making him look more intimidating.

There was still no reaction from Bernard, though. The poor man was now weeping as he fell down on his knees.

"TELL ME, DAMNIT!" Barty suddenly roared, losing all his self control in a split second, his mood suddenly far more dangerous.

"A bomb, sir! I've placed a bomb! Please, it was not my idea, please have mercy on me... My boy needs his father, he has no one else..." Bernard pleaded, covering his head with his arms as if that was going to protect him if Barty would decide to throw curses him.

"You should have thought about that before crossing me," Barry growled, taking another step closer. "A bomb? One of those Muggle things? Really?"

Bernard nodded slowly, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Well, you are going to remove that bomb right now, dismantle it, and then you can come back to me," Barty said, his voice now eerily calm.

Bernard stood up quickly and he ran back to the bedroom. The servant probably thought that he would be spared if he obeyed right now, but Hermione knew better. The way in which Barty told him to come back after dismantling the bomb was not promising anything good. Especially not since the man had already been given a second chance.