The green beetle twisted into human form, becoming a woman with terror written across her face.
Lucius nearly sprang to his feet in surprise. He had only just learned that this woman was an unregistered Animagus. He had run into her that afternoon, but he had never imagined she had followed him here.
"Mr. Behrens." Rita Skeeter looked close to tears. She had heard only a few sentences, and they had nearly scared her to death.
Why had she secretly followed Lucius at noon?
For the first time, she regretted eavesdropping. Hearing something like this could cost her her head.
"Why did you follow me?" Lucius's face darkened. He pointed his wand at Rita's head and spoke in a low voice.
"I—I saw you hurrying off at noon and thought there had to be a big story..." Rita knelt on the floor, trembling, afraid these two Dark Wizards might kill her on a whim.
"I came through the Floo Network. How did you follow me?" Lucius was already wondering how many of his secrets Skeeter had overheard. He wanted to kill her then and there.
"I—I hid in your dress robes..." Rita said. "When you changed into this robe and used the Floo Network, I was watching beside your fireplace. As soon as you left, I followed."
Lucius's face turned as red as a Weasley's hair. He had been spied on by someone like her.
"I'll kill you!"
"Mr. Malfoy, calm down," Will said, stopping him.
"Mr. Behrens?" Lucius looked at Will. "She heard what we just said."
Skeeter knelt on the floor, shaking. "Don't—don't kill me! I didn't hear anything! I don't know anything!"
Will felt a little regretful. Not because of her—he merely wished he had run more experiments on Peter at the time, with Veritaserum, for instance.