Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter ten

October 17th – Professor McGonagall's office

Nephera left her last class of the day and made her way towards McGonagall's office, waiting to hear what their detention would be. She should feel bad for almost killing the boy, but at the end of the day he deserved that punch and everything that came after it. Her mind was still churning with what Black had said earlier, 'when he punched her, everyone just sort of jumped in'. That made no sense to Nephera, especially coming from Sirius.

Sure, Tony, Ellie and herself were spending more time with the four Gryffindors after Tony and Remus's relationship became public, but her two friends were much closer with them than she was. Although, she thought, she punched the guy only because he dared insult them, so she supposed that they were all growing closer to each other than what they thought.

She saw the four marauders turn the corner in front of her, and she called out for them to wait, as she caught on to them.

"So, you punched someone because he insulted us?"

"Yes, James. What about it?"

"Nothing, but you're growing soft, Nephie," teased James making Remus let out a loud laugh at the use of the nickname

"Call me Nephie one more time Potter and I'll show just how soft I haven't grown."

"Sure thing, Nephie," he repeated but raised his hands in surrender when the Slytherin shot him a glare

"So, what do we think is in store for us?" asked Peter

"Something very long and boring," replied Remus and Nephera nodded

They continued to walk, feeling everyone's eyes follow them as they did so. It was a shock for the students of Hogwarts, to hear that the four marauders got into a fight with Lestrange over the girl they seemed to hate the most, even if they did appear to be on amicable terms lately.

Walking into the office, they found the older witch sitting behind her office, looking at them pointedly.

"Engage in any more violent activities I should be made aware of since this morning?" she asked

"No, Minnie darling, none at all," replied Sirius, his signature smirk on his face

"That is very good to know, Mr. Black," she sighed "Now, you will be helping out Professor Sprout and Professor Slughorn tonight. You will be going into the forbidden forest and you will be picking up ten Primrosia roots, twenty-five amaranthea flowers, and sixteen asphodel branches."

"But, Professor, the Primrosia plant only comes out of the ground during sunrise, we're going to be there all night!" exclaimed Peter, who had the most knowledge in herbology out of all of them

"Yes, Professor and the first Slug Club meeting is tonight and-" started Nephera, not wanting to spend the night trotting through mud and dirt in the forest

"I'm sure it's heartbreaking for you, Mrs. Winchester, that you will miss that meeting," stated the Professor, raising an eyebrow showing that she knew the girl was lying "But you should be lucky it is the only detention you're getting. I assure you Professor Slughorn was pushing for something much harsher."

"We know you love us Minnie," goaded James "We'll meet Hagrid tonight at the edge of the forest then?"

"Indeed Mr. Potter," she said "Mrs. Winchester, please stay back. Boys, you can leave."

The four Gryffindors said their goodbyes and promised to not be late for their detention, and then Nephera was left alone with the Professor. The Slytherin didn't know why the Professor wanted to speak to her in private, she assumed it was because she was the one who started the fight. Looking at the older woman's face, however, she saw a strange glint in her eyes, something that, for the first time, she couldn't tell what it was.