“ Was he yours, if he wanted me so bad? ”
FULL NAME: LUCRETIA BLACK
It is rare that Lucretia Black’s name is not mentioned in the same sentence as her cousin, Walburga. The two girls were born a month apart in the same year, with the same wispy dark hair and large eyes that seemed to see everything, even as newborns. While Walburga had been born to a teenage mother, who had loved her fiercely, Lucretia had been born to a young witch named Melania Macmillan. The girl had been only a few years older than Irma, fresh out of Hogwarts when she had married to Arcturus Black III, an older man who had procured a wife as he would a trophy of sorts. They had an unhappy marriage, far from the fairytales that most girls like her had grown up believing would become a reality for them, and Melania had sunk into a depression as she fell into her life. When she had found out that she was pregnant with her daughter, she couldn’t help but resent the unborn child, as she was a piece of evidence that the marriage was real and she would forever be associated with Arcturus. When Lucretia was born, Melania did not smile or even cry at the sight of her child. Instead, she simply sniffed and stared into those dark eyes that searched for love and nourishment in her first moments of life, before handing her over to the mediwitch who was stationed with her. From then on, the girl rarely saw her mother, who spent the majority of her time locked in her room. Lucretia was instead passed from family member to family member, to whoever had time for her; the majority of the time, it would be her teenaged aunt Irma, who spent days nursing both Walburga and Lucretia, side by side.
Lucretia was four years old when her mother died in childbirth with her younger brother, Orion; when she was relayed the news, the child didn’t understand why she didn’t feel sad. Of course, there was a tinge of it, but the truth was that she did not know Melania. She didn’t feel any kind of bond with the woman who had given birth to her, and so life simply seemed to go on. Their father, who had been in her presence around once or twice in her entire life, didn’t seem to wish to have his children around and instead sent them to whoever would take them. Orion cried often as a child, seeking out his mother, and Lucretia became instinctively maternal towards him; she would often nurse him and soothe him, cooing at him and pretending she was his mother. Once or twice, she would tell her aunt Irma that sometimes she wished she was Orion’s real mother; she didn’t notice the horrified look on the woman’s face. The two siblings were passed around from family member to family member, none of them seeming to have much time for them after a few months. It gave them both a distinct feeling of instability, never really having a home to go to. However, her favourite place was always with Pollux and Irma; her uncle had a much better relationship with her than his own children, as she was always hoping to impress him; her willingness to obey him granted her affection and pride the others were not. She would play games with Walburga and Alphard, loving them as close siblings and sleeping in the same room as them, Orion beside her. Each time they had to leave, it felt like her heart was breaking.
When she was around eight years old, their aunt Dorea finally turned to her and Orion and asked them if they would like to stay with them year-round officially. They had accepted immediately, and they were ‘adopted’ as Irma and Pollux’s children. Having somewhere to stay and call home gave her an immediate sense of gravity and safety, knowing she had someone to turn to. Three years later, Lucretia and Walburga boarded the Hogwarts Express, holding hands tightly throughout the entire train ride, babbling to one another about what their lives would be like at Hogwarts. Within the first few years, once she had became a teenager, she had soon become the adoration of many boys in the years above. She learned to apply makeup from a young age, practising spells to make her hair curl just so and reading Witch Weekly cover to cover to learn how to attract men. Lucretia had been on the hunt for someone to love her, a powerful man to protect her and give her the love and devotion missing from her own parents. Walburga would scoff at her, talking about ‘daddy issues’; the girl always focusing more on studies and power rather than love, and while Lucretia also enjoyed playing mind games on the boys and exacting their youth and beauty to bring them to their knees and worship them, there was always something else in her mind that wanted something real. Underneath it all, she wanted to be loved and adored. By the time she left Hogwarts, she had blossomed into a powerful young woman, desired by many but looking to be valued.
Leaving Hogwarts, she had procured a job as a Herbologist; Lucretia had always had an affinity with nature, spending hours tending to plants and growing her own herbs to heal. Spending hours in the greenhouses she studies in, she weaves flowers through her hair and allows them to grow under her care. While Pollux hadn’t approved when she told him her career path, and Walburga cackled in disdain, she hadn’t cared; it was something for herself only, and with the encouragement of her aunt Cassiopeia, she found peace among the plants that have became close companions, almost. While she has pursued this, questions began to arise of who she would marry. It was expected that someone of her status would marry young, as all eligible young women seemed to do, and her husband would give her the life of luxury and envy of the Wizarding World. Lucretia didn’t want the clinical and stiff marriage that she had seen between Irma and Pollux. She wanted passion, she wanted love; someone who was going to sweep her off of her feet, who would kiss her until her lips would swell up. Aged eighteen, Lucretia had fallen in love with a dark and handsome man that looked at her as if she were a jewel that he needed to protect and treasure, the most exquisite piece of art that could be bought. The only issue seemed to be that Philippe Urquat, the man she loved so fiercely and desperately, was married to another. He told her he didn’t love his wife, not like he loved Lucretia. He promised they would marry, and she would be happy. Her heart had soared and she had awaited that day.
However, that day had never came, and Philippe had eventually broke the news to her that he could not leave his wife. That he hadn’t meant for their affair to go on as long as it did, that she wasn’t enough for him. He had left, with her heart crushed in his hands. Lucretia is heartbroken in the months following Philippe leaving her. As she had lay in her bed that night sobbing, she had been reminded of the one of the few memories she had of her mother, when she had been tripped over by a neighbourhood boy and ran crying to her. Melania had paused in the middle of applying her makeup and simply told her that men would always be good for nothing but using and destroying. Those words rang once more in her head. In those months following, she has found herself becoming channeling her heartbreak into rage. She has dedicated herself to the family cause, joining her uncle in supporting Grindelwald internally; while Orion continues his studies at Hogwarts, he has informed her of a young man named Tom Riddle and his group Walpurgis, which Walburga has recently joined from within London as it has spread. Lucretia has found the entire thing fascinating, but has hesitance in joining something that could be so unstable. She knows Alphard is even more reluctant, and although Walburga waxes lyrical about Riddle and his radical ways, she can’t bring herself to commit fully. As much as she and her cousin can be similiar, so similiar they are almost the same person, she could never place her soul so fully in something. In many ways, she is not Walburga, as much as some would like her to be.
POLLUX BLACK & IRMA BLACK ≡ Aunt and uncle/adopted parents. Lucretia owes everything to her aunt and uncle, in her mind, as they took her in and raised her as if she were their own daughter, as well as her younger brother Orion. She has a close relationship to her aunt, seeing her as a paragon of strength and femininity, although she wants much more than the marriage she has seen between Irma and Pollux. She has always done everything she could to make her uncle proud, seeing him as the father she truly wanted, and as a result has become his favourite. Lucretia is extremely loving towards them and would truly do anything to make them happy and proud of her, including marriage. For giving her the life she has been given, she owes them the world.
WALBURGA BLACK & ALPHARD BLACK ≡ Cousins/best friends. Ever since they were small, Lucretia has been incredibly close to her two cousins. Walburga was more like her twin than her cousin, her best friend and other half; the two have no secrets between them, and they have spent many years laughing and dancing together as they have grown into powerful young women. Alphard is her shoulder to cry on, someone to laugh with and forget everything around them. Lucretia knows how difficult he finds it within their family, and worries for him due to his reluctance to do what is necessary for them. She has heard, only in whispers from their aunt Dorea, about their uncle Marius who had been disowned, and a part of her is scared the same could happen for her dear Alphard.
CASSIOPEIA BLACK, MARIUS BLACK & DOREA BLACK ≡ Family. Unlike her cousins, she does in fact have a good relationship with Cassiopeia, having always liked the woman’s resilience; this has only strengthened when she was the only one to support and encourage her to pursue Herbology, and Lucretia has confided in her only about Philippe. Dorea is a friend to her, and was someone who has taught her how to use men to her advantage and not let them take advantage of her as she has realised that Philippe did. She had only head of Marius recently, his name having been echoed like a ghost, and since then she has become more interested in the Squib of their family. A small part of her almost wants to meet him, just to see him, as dangerous as that would be.
this character is currently TAKEN.