Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter twenty

December 20th- Hogwarts Express

The seven friends were walking towards the carriages, the atmosphere grim and gloomy as they all thought about Nephera going homes. The last confrontation between the Slytherin and her father was replaying in their minds, and none of them wanted the girl to go back to Winchester manor. Ellie and Tony had been reminding her all day that she could spend the holidays with them, but to no avail, Nephera kept telling them that it would all be fine. Everyone, however, knew that was a lie, despite how nonchalantly the girl was acting.

Even Sirius, who had been constantly arguing with the girl after the night at the astronomy tower, partly due to embarrassment and partly due to the fact that he couldn't figure out where he stood when it came to Nephera, hadn't said anything towards her that day.

If anyone could understand what it felt like to dread the holiday season with their family, it was the raven-haired Gryffindor. However, as they were walking, and he saw that she was smoking cigarette after cigarette, not even stopping between them and that she was wearing nothing but a very thin dress shirt, he realized that she wasn't only dreading going home. She was actually scared at the prospect of seeing her father again, and if Nephera Winchester of all people was scared, Sirius didn't even want to think about what went on behind closed doors at Winchester manor.

"Neph, Neph slow down!" said Ellie, the brunette having walked ways in front of them

"What is it?" asked Nephera after waiting for them to catch up

"Look, I know we've talked about this before, but promise me that if it ever gets too much, you'll run away. Please, Neph," pleaded the Hufflepuff

"It's nothing I can't handle, Ellie. I'm telling you, don't worry,"

By that point, Tony had grown very frustrated. He knew it was all bullshit, he knew there was no way she would ever run away from home because he knew that doing any of those things would entail Nephera asking for help.

"Cut the crap, Nephera." Stated the Ravenclaw, surprising all of them "You're not running away from home because you're not going home in the first place. You're not going to spend the holidays with a bunch of fucking death eaters, you're going with Ellie."

"I'm going home, Tony. I already told you that it'll be fine."

"And we all know that's a lie."

James had seen that same scene before, many years ago when Sirius was still living at Grimmauld Place. His friend hadn't reacted well before, and James doubted that Nephera would take too kindly to being told what to do.

He exchanged an uneasy glance with Remus and Peter, not knowing what to do. They all cared about Nephera, that was certain, but Ellie and Tony had been her friends for years, and they had formed a bond with the Slytherin that the marauders had yet to achieve. So, they didn't know whether they should intervene or not.

Sirius was facing the same conflict. He knew the girl was lying, they all did, but he also knew how scared she was, and as much as he wanted to force her to go with Ellie, he knew that wouldn't work. He also saw her cast a menacing look in Tony's direction, and he knew that she couldn't say anything mean to him, for she would only end up regretting it later. So, even though it would most certainly end up horribly for him, he decided to do something to get her mind off of things.

"Of course it's a lie, when has Winchester ever said anything that isn't one?" he said, keeping his face as straight as possible

When he saw her turn around and look at him with the same murderous expression and the confident aura she always had, he had to fight back a smile knowing that his plan had worked. He may not like her, but no one deserved to be scared of going home, and if he had to make her mad at him in order to get her mind off of it, well, he would take any and all hexes she had to give.