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It was well after midnight. Luca usually never had trouble sleeping, yet tonight she laid wide awake in bed no matter how hard she tried to fall asleep. She couldn't close her eyes without picturing her mother's face. There was so much pressure on her to fulfill this task that Bellatrix gave her, and she had no idea where she was supposed to begin.

The task sounded simple: disarm Dumbldore, retrieve the Elder Wand, return it to her mum. But actually doing it was another thing. She never really cared about getting expelled – she did what she wanted when she wanted to do it and would often land herself in detention – but facing the headmaster – and possibly having to kill him – didn't sit right with her.

She'd never killed an actual human. Only insects, bugs, and other creatures were unfortunate enough to receive fates like that. She was a sucker for the Crucio curse; it was amusing to her when her victims would cry and beg for mercy. She was her mother's daughter, after all. Enjoying people's suffering was a usual Friday night at Malfoy Manor.

Luca sighed. She looked over at her nightstand, where her chocolate frog from earlier was resting. She sat up and reached for it. She opened it up and whispered a quiet spell to keep the frog from hopping away. She took it out and broke off one of the legs, the chocolate melting on her tongue as she leaned back against the headboard.

"Lumos." Luca held the illuminated wand to the card. She sighed and rolled her eyes when she saw the famous witch she got. "Figures." She scratched Enigma behind the ears when the cat curled into her side. "Do you think Mummy worked her magic to do this, Igma?" she asked quietly as she showed her the Bellatrix Lestrange card. "Or is it just a scary coincidence?"

Meow. Enigma pawed at the mattress and rubbed her head against Luca's thigh. The young witch smiled softly as she brushed her hand down the black cat's belly. She kissed the top of her head before curling up next to her.

"She's everywhere, isn't she?" she asked in a whisper. "No matter where we go, she's still gonna be there in spirit...watching my every move, daring me to make the wrong one...What are the odds that she wants me to fail? You don't really think she'd...mother's don't kill their...do they?"

Luca felt queasy at the thought. She wrapped her arms around Enigma, holding her close as she shut her eyes. She tried to focus on anything else, but it didn't help that she had Bellatrix's voice echoing in her ear. It was almost as if she was in the room with her.

Don't let me down...Don't let me down...Don't let me down...

"Make it stop," Luca whispered, curling into herself. She slowly rocked back and forth in a soothing manner, mumbling quietly as sleep never came.

She was used to it by now. When the world was asleep, her mind was awake, torturing her with every deepest fear that she couldn't say out loud.

She was Lucatrix Lestrange. She wasn't allowed to be afraid of anything.

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Luca quietly opened the door to Professor Snape's classroom. She tip-toed over to her seat, holding her breath as she watched the back of his head, silently hoping that he wouldn't turn around and catch her.

"Perhaps Miss Lestrange thinks that the rules don't apply to her, or else she'd have the decency to show up on time." Snape paused his writing on the board and turned to face the petite Slytherin, who froze in her tracks. He folded his arms across his chest and approached her, his cold expression barring into her soul. "I expect you have a valid reason as to why you are...late...to my class?"

Luca's cheeks flushed when the entire class turned to look at her. She cleared her throat and stood up straighter. "I would've gotten here sooner, but I had to show a few pathetic first years where McGonagall's class was. They must've never heard of a map before."

"Hm. Is that so?" Snape stared down at the girl with cold eyes and his usual blank expression. He exhaled slowly through his nose and turned around. "Detention."

"What?" Luca scoffed. "I hardly think that'll be necessary. My mother will hear about this!"

"Legally, there is nothing your mother can do without getting sent to Azkaban," Snape said as he picked up some chalk and began writing on the board. He looked over his shoulder at Luca, whose hand had formed a tight fist, her jaw clenched. "Perhaps you should learn how to lie a little better. Maybe next time you'll be convincing."

"I am a good liar, you incompetent fool!" Luca whipped out her wand and fired a curse at Snape. The man reversed it and sent it flying at the teenager, who ducked down.

"Two detentions. You will stay after class today and tomorrow and think about what you've done," Snape declared. Luca glared at him as she sat down next to Draco. "Maybe that'll teach you to stop running that mouth of yours and attempting to attack a teacher. This is your first...and only warning."

Draco made a face that mimicked his cousin's, and she slapped his arm. "Careful your face doesn't freeze that way, baby cuz."

"Fuck you, Draco," Luca quietly spat. She took out her notebook and quill to take notes on Snape's lecture.

"That would be wrong on so many levels," Draco mumbled, shuddering, and Luca scowled at him out of the corner of her eye.

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a/n

snape is probably my favorite harry potter teacher. he's so funny, and i love misunderstood villains 🥺

there wasn't any luketana content in this chapter, but there should be some next chapter!

thoughts?

𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 | golden trio eraWhere stories live. Discover now