"...Really, almost."
The man took off his black robe and looked at the dark hole burned by a charm in the corner, feeling a bit fearful—three against two, an ambush, even from behind; without that little brat as leverage, they might have actually failed at this step...
They should have waited until they were asleep... although even then, the difficulty wouldn't decrease much.
The years of war had honed these Aurors into real duel masters, not to mention the two in front of them were elite among Aurors, the type who, if they kept steady, could absolutely become Head of the Auror Office someday.
No wonder so many had fallen at the hands of this couple; but, they shouldn't have had a child—
Rabastan turned his head and looked at the little one lying in the crib, reaching out his hand...
"Don't touch him! That was our agreement!!"
Alice said through gritted teeth, her and Frank Longbottom's hands and feet already tightly bound with ropes, sitting close together in the center of the living room, while the Death Eaters were scattered around the room—
"All set, no one will come here for a few hours—"
Radolphus returned, having just cut off the connection between the fireplace and the Floo Powder network, "Of course, keep the noise down, don't let the neighbors hear—Bella, pay attention—" The woman heard this and nodded impatiently.
She turned her head to the young man with brown hair observing outside by the window, "Hey, you or me?"
"Make it quick."
Barty Crouch Jr. frowned deeply, clearly in a bad mood now—for the past half-month, he's been in a very bad mood.
"Alright, you two, looks like it's our time now—"
Bella's lips curled into a strange arc as her gaze swept across their faces, "Now, the Q&A session starts; we ask, you answer. If you answer wrongly, there are consequences, and answering correctly gets no reward. Surprise—"
"If you are going to ask..."
"No more nonsense, our patience is limited." Bella raised her voice, cutting Frank Longbottom off, who stared but dared not anger these lunatics, as he knew his son was still in their hands.
"Good, seems you're adjusting well."
Seeing Frank obediently shut his mouth, Bella nodded with satisfaction, squatting before them, hands gripping her magic wand, "Then, the first question, you two are Dumbledore's people, correct?"
Frank and Alice exchanged a glance, hesitated briefly, and then the former heavily nodded.
Must ensure they remain useful, as the child is still in these people's hands, play along for now, and look for an opportunity—
But clearly, they underestimated the madness of the woman before them.
"Crucio!"
Bella shook her head, her tone exceedingly "gentle," but Frank's face turned ashen, with deep purple veins instantly crawling over his forehead.
"What are you doing?! We didn't lie!"
Alice's eyes widened in shock and anger as she shouted loudly.
"Shush, shush... not so loud, or I can't guarantee... what's his name again? Na... alright, whatever. Just keep your mouth shut."
Bella chuckled, eyes filled with undisguised madness and mockery, "Now, let's review the game rules; I need your answers. Mr. Longbottom, nodding silently, what's that supposed to mean? I'll ask again—" The woman's face darkened.
"You both are Dumbledore's people?"
"Y-yes."
Frank's voice trembled slightly; he shook his head at his worried wife, speaking calmly.
"Good, then, that damned Potter is also one of Dumbledore's people?"
"Ha, you really didn't know—"
"Crucio!"
Bella sneered, "Don't interrupt, madam, this is a little lesson; don't act on impulse, you haven't just got a husband, you've got a son too."
"If you want to know about the Dark Lord, we don't know! You might ask Sirius Black, that traitor was closest to Godric's Hollow at the time—" Worriedly glancing at his pale-faced wife, Frank suppressed the anger rising within, speaking with a trembling voice.
"Sirius Black?" Bella blinked and exchanged glances with the others.
Ever since the Dark Lord disappeared, they've been pursuing news of Voldemort's whereabouts; they've seen news of Sirius Black, but truly hadn't paid attention or thought deeply, yet... is that guy one of their people?
Seriously?
Radolphus subconsciously rubbed his side, where a wound from a charm remained, inflicted by Sirius.
If he really is a Death Eater, then he would have infiltrated far too deeply, wouldn't he?
"Impossible, I've never seen that guy next to the master—"
Barty Jr. shook his head confidently, glaring as he walked to the edge of the sofa, his tongue slightly twitching, those pitch-black eyes fixed firmly on the Longbottoms, his tone icy. "But there's another guy... that person is not worthy to serve the master, hmph, they're both lying!"
"No! We didn't..."
"Crucio!"
This time, the Crucio curse lasted particularly long, until Frank's consciousness was about to collapse from the pain when he felt his awareness return to his body.
He was gasping for air, like someone who had just suffocated for five minutes and was taking his first breath, greedily breathing in.
"What a disgrace, so top-notch Aurors are nothing after all—"
He heard Rabastan Lestrange's disdainful voice, but at this moment Frank no longer had the strength to retort. He felt his blurry vision shaking slightly, the roots of his hair tingling with pain. Then, he saw Bellatrix's face, clearly beautiful, but no matter how he looked, it was ugly—
Bellatrix seemed to say something, but it had already slipped past the man's ear. Frank also heard a cry, seemingly from his son—
Sorry, Neville, Daddy probably can't...
"Knock, knock, knock—"
A dull knock on the door sounded abruptly, as if knocking on Frank's heart; his awareness even cleared at that moment.
"Knock, knock, knock—"
The knocking sounded again, causing Bellatrix's smile to stiffen slightly. She released Frank's hair and glanced inexplicably at the other three people around, but at this moment, their faces were equally puzzled. Clearly, whoever was knocking was not part of their plan.
Lying on the floor, Frank instinctively looked towards the door; he felt his heart pounding wildly. Even though he didn't know who was outside, at this moment, he felt an emotion known as hope.
Everyone subconsciously stopped their actions, so in the room, the only sounds they could hear were each other's breaths—
All their attention was drawn to the wooden door, so much so that no one even noticed that the boy on the bed had stopped crying.
Then, before the Death Eaters could use eye contact to plan, they heard a creak as the door was pushed open from the outside, and a figure cloaked in black entered. He wasn't wearing a hood, so everyone could clearly see his appearance—
A face bearing an almost eighty percent resemblance to Frank Longbottom.
"It's you... is it you?!"
Bella's eye corner couldn't stop trembling, feeling like a bunch of extra memories appeared in her mind. Before she could sort out these chaotic memories, she instinctively asked while raising her magic wand.
"Go die."
Neville said calmly, then seemed to wave a hand, and deep green Devil's Snares broke through the floorboards, almost instantly wrapping around Bella's legs, as the vase on the mantelpiece suddenly shattered, and the sharply tipped Poisonous Tentacles swarmed out, directly "biting" Rabastan's head nearby—
The man howled and fell to the ground, ceasing to move almost instantly.
Then, the surrounding walls began to crumble, one by one, Chomping Cabbages hopped out from the dirt heaps on the ground, the man's magic wand bit directly in half, and before he could utter a scream, the cabbages simply stuffed his mouth, then...
"Avada Kedavra!"
Barty Jr. attempted an ambush, but the green lightning aiming at Neville was intercepted by a jumping cabbage in its mouth. The next moment, countless Devil's Snares tore through the shattered pieces of Chomping Cabbages, directly binding Barty Jr. tightly and then slammed him to the ground, the back of his head sunk in more than halfway—clearly no longer breathing.
The room plunged into a silence, save for the occasional munching sound of the Chomping Cabbages, leaving only the thud of footsteps.
"You, you can never..."
Bella's mouth pulled into a nasty arc; she spoke with some bravado.
But just as two syllables came out, her head was wrapped by Devil's Snares, then blood began to flow slowly through the gaps in the vines.
Neville averted his eyes; his face was somewhat pale.
"Dad."
He squatted down, helping the utterly exhausted Frank Longbottom upright.
...
"Huff, huff—"
Meanwhile, somewhere unknown.
Barty Crouch gasped as he abruptly sat up from the bed.
A moment later, the panting slightly eased, but the man's face remained unusually unpleasant; his eyes continuously flickered, finally, after a brief period of silence, he slowly raised his hand and gently touched his back head.
Then, he placed his hand in front of him, and under the moonlight spilling into the room from the window, a smudge of crimson stimulated his eyes.