NO MORE A PRETENDER~ {The Lestrange Daughter #3}

𝟐. Highway

TRIGGER WARNING; Contains violence and torture. Not terribly graphic but please take care if you are sensitive to such things.

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Valentine didn't know who this man was or where he had come from. He was dark-haired, likely in his forties, a little overweight and undoubtedly Muggle. She didn't want to think about him much further than that but felt that if he should be a pain, then they both shall. She thought it would be what she deserved. 

He was bound tightly in rope on the dungeon floor at Voldemort's feet, terrified and confused. She doubted that he had any idea what was happening here.

Nagini lingered just behind his master, watching the scene with interest, probably hoping for a meal. 

"Now, my dear," Voldemort rasped, "you have seen the Cruciatus Curse in practice. Today we will discover your aptitude for it." 

She had already known what he was going to say, but hearing it was like a slap to the face. Her stomached bundled up into a tight knot but she smiled, almost a little too excitedly. She knew this was coming. Hell, like with Thicknesse, she felt almost prepared, but that didn't mean she wanted any of this to happen. 

Valentine took out her wand eagerly and Voldemort chuckled. The hairs rose on the back of her neck in pure protest. Nothing about this was right and her body knew it. 

"As I suspected," Voldemort continued, "you performed very well during your first task. Now, it is time to move forward. We will be closing in on the boy the very first second we can and the capacity of your involvement in that depends on how you perform today."

"So, if I succeed I can join the others in that mission?" Valentine's eyes lit up. 

"Precisely." The words left Voldemort's mouth in a hiss. 

Valentine smiled again and her lips twitched with the need to grimace. The dread she felt just a few nights ago was nothing compared to this. That need to fight or flight coursed through her. Voldemort was completely off guard, or at least as much as he would ever be. If she could have killed him in this moment she would have. If it wasn't of the Horcruxes, he would have already been lying dead on the floor. 

"Now," Voldemort gestured to her,  "be my guest."

She could have hesitated but she didn't. Once the spell was cast, time would mean nothing for the man.

I'm sorry. 

"Crucio!" She waved her wand with uncharacteristic vigour and the man stiffened, body seizing. 

His eyes bulged from their sockets. His mouth opened wide in a silent scream that couldn't quite escape him. It was such a violent act and yet he was completely silent. 

The guilt and nausea swam through Valentine's mind and in her scrambled to calm it, she lowered her wand.

"Again." Voldemort said immediately. 

"Crucio!" She did so with another flick of her wand. 

This one had less force behind it and so the man managed to force out a tortured howl. The sound rang in Valentine's ears like bells. She painted a fascinated grin on her face and watched him closely. 

The man writhed and twisted in the ropes, sweat rolling off his face. His eyes were squeezed shut now. Valentine wondered if he thought this was all a nightmare and that he would wake up warm in his bed any minute now. She had never been so sorry to disappoint. She imagined he had just been a normal man before today. Maybe he had a job he liked, or maybe even one he didn't. Maybe he had a large family that were in a panic trying to find him. Or Maybe he lived alone with a goldfish waiting to be fed. None of that mattered to Valentine, because whatever life had, he didn't deserve this. He wasn't part of their world. He shouldn't have been here writhing at her hand.