Inside Man

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Quinn brushed the yellow grass off his jacket and leather gloves.

The five Snatchers and the one Death Eater lay on the forest ground. The five Snatchers had their arms tied up while their leg bones turned to a liquid jelly as they shivered in the aftershock of the magic. The sole Death Eaters, however, laid unharmed other than the 'light' bruising that Death Eaters usually suffered when they came across Quinn in his Invisible Vigilante persona.

"I knew there was a chance that violating the Taboo this early would attract someone higher up the ladder, but never knew it would be someone so high up the ladder."

Lucius Malfoy stared up at Quinn with one of his eyes beaten black-and-blue. The man who was once proud as a peacock shivered on the dirty ground with his hand raised in a desperate appeal to make Quinn stop.

"Why would someone like you, Lucius Malfoy, be part of a field group. . . accompanying these nobodies," he glanced at the ruffians. "I always assumed you were the indoors type, sitting behind your fancy desk, pulling the strings— but here you are," his eyes went to Malfoy's empty sleeve, "and you don't have an arm. . . how did that happen?"

He already knew Lucius Malfoy didn't have an arm. He had seen the thing happen in Barty Crouch Junior's memories— one of the deranged man's most prominent recent memories, making pieces of information he had seen on the Death Eaters. Alas, like Quinn, the Invisible Vigilante wanted to keep the fact he was a Legilimency secret.

"P-Please, s-spare me," said Lucius, his tone knitted with begging, "I-I will give you a-anything."

Quinn's pupil narrowed as he gave Lucius a staredown. "There is nothing precious than your life, Lucius Malfoy, and I would love nothing more than to reap that precious life of yours and rid the Dark Lord of one of his precious assets."

Instead of begging more, Lucius laid flat down on the floor; it was as if all the life and struggle to survive had left him because of Quinn's few words. He let out a weak scoff. "Then off with it. I'm no asset to the Dark Lord," he raised his empty sleeve. "Killing me won't make any difference, so do it and do it quickly."

Quinn narrowed his eyes and readily reached out to Lucius' mind with Legilimency, and he didn't have to go deep to run into a rush of emotions of longing, regret, acceptance, and a myriad of very depressing emotions that even made Quinn's mood drop. He went a little deeper and found the reason behind all the complicated emotions.

". . . I heard that your son abandoned the glorious cause you and your wife left you. That must hurt," Quinn quipped where it hurt. "How did it feel to have your family betray everything you stood for?"

Lucius didn't vocalize his answer, but Quinn didn't need vocalization as he was inside Lucius' mind. The emotions and inner thoughts told him the presence of great initial anger followed by regret and doubt, which preceded a great sense of belief-shattering turmoil with pain and a resurgence of pain, hatred, and abhorrence.

"Is that how you lost your arm? Punishment for your Malfoy family's betrayal. I guess it was in the Malfoy blood to bite the hand of the one who fed you when the usefulness ends."

Lucius flared up, "Don't you dare! My family is not traitors! I have always supported the just and right cause of the Dark Lord—"

"One person does not equate to the entire family," Quinn interrupted. "Oh, wait, you are the only one remaining, so it is the entire family."

Quinn's mocking invigorated Lucius by setting a fire of anger inside him. Quinn internally smiled; he had heated up the iron, and now it was time to strike it with his strongest hammer.

"Just kill me!" Lucius wailed.

"Would you like to meet your family, Lucius?" asked Quinn, not paying attention to the angry appeal. "I can make that happen."

Lucius sprung up to his knees like a man who had found water in a desert and crawled towards Quinn with his hands tied behind his back.

"Y-Y-You can do that?"

"I know where they are, so it is not a stretch to say that I can make it happen."

"Please, p-please, my family— family, I want to meet my family. L-Let me meet them."

Quinn's eyes shined behind his mask. He pushed Lucius away with his leg, making the bruised man fall to the ground. "I can arrange a meeting with your family, but for that to happen, I will need something in return— because taking away your life is still a luxury that I would love to indulge in."

A shine of hope returned to Lucius's eyes as he rapidly nodded. "I will do anything— anything— my family— just my family."

Quinn nodded. Coming to the forest to trigger the Taboo, he hadn't planned for the current situation. He had never thought that he would chance upon a Lucius Malfoy who was angry with Voldemort and his Death Eaters— a man that no longer cared about trying to assert absolute dominance of pureblood over everyone else— a father and husband who longed and cared for his family's wellbeing.

It was a little too easy to turn Lucius, and in any other circumstance, he would doubt the effectiveness of his words, but in this case, he had confirmed that Lucius Malfoy was going to dance to any tune Quinn decided to play.

Could he deliver on his promise?

Could he let Lucius meet Draco and Narcissa Malfoy?

He could do it. . . after all, he knew precisely where the both Malfoys were living in peace with fear always buzzing with worry. It wasn't that difficult when you knew where you were looking at.

"You are going to work in the Death Eater organization as my spy. As you said, even if you have fallen out of favor, the information you have access to is still useful to me— so anything major that happens with the Death Eaters, I want to hear about it. Go it?"

"I-I understand."

"Good," said Quinn, but he noticed that Lucius wanted to say something, so he asked him to speak up.

"What will happen if the Dark Lord knows about it?" asked Lucius.

Quinn's lips rose up slightly behind his mask. "If the Dark Lord knows about this. . . you die, Lucius Malfoy— you die."

Lucius froze like a block of ice. The already pale man looked like he had been converted to a vampire. No matter what anyone said, the thought of death scared all men, and it seemed that Lucius Malfoy, who had been the dealer of death, was now feeling the fear of being on the side of the wand.

"You're the one to lose the most, Lucius, but at the same time, the one to gain the most. If you chose to refuse, I could kill you know, and everything would be over, but if you comply with this little deal of mine, you can meet your family and take the chance against Voldemort. A piece of advice, Lucius Malfoy, believe it or not, the Dark Lord will be much more lenient to his Death Eaters than I am to them."

There was a turn of silence as Quinn stared at Lucius, who stared down at the ground.

". . . If you can guarantee that I can meet my family. . ."

"You will be able to meet your family. But don't be mistaken; you won't be able to live them— it'll be a meeting for the amount of time I decide. . . and in case they refuse to meet you, it'll be your bad luck."

The last line seemed to strike Lucius like a sledgehammer. It was evident that the man hadn't thought of the possibility of his son and wife refusing to meet him.

"So, I ask you again and for the last time. Make your decision because your life will depend on it, and make it now."

Quinn had said his piece. Make the most of the situation. He had gotten Lucius Malfoy, so he was going to make a man who was once the second-in-command into a spy that would feed him all the stuff he ever needed.

'He has no confidence.' He had studied people and their minds for such a long time that he knew what confidence looked like. He had seen Lucius Malfoy at his best, and now he had seen the same man at his current worse.

Quinn had seen the potential. . . 'Now, I just need to bring it back.' If Lucius Malfoy had become an asset for Voldemort, why couldn't he become one for him?

Lucius looked up towards Quinn, and with a strong tone that had been lacking before, he spoke, "I will do it. I will become your spy."

". . . Well then, Lucius Malfoy. Look forward to meeting your family because, after that, we have a lot of work to do.

Quinn turned to the Snatchers and finished, "Now, let's change some memories and call it a day."

It was time to start picking the big snake's scales out.

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Quinn West - MC - Having insider information.

FictionOnlyReader - Author - A shorter chapter. Couldn't write more on this scene of the story. This last leg of the story will fluctuate like crazy, so hang on tight and keep reading. Internship fatigue has also started to get to me, it has been forcing my schedule to become irregular.

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The link is in the synopsis!