Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter twenty-one

(this ^ is the dress I imagine her wearing in this chapter, and yes, I do have a Pinterest board of dresses and clothes I love but I'll never be able to afford) 

December 20th - Winchester Estate 

Winchester Estate was a very large, and very daunting building. Seven stories high, multiple rooms, each with its own purpose, and built out of black marble, with dark green accents. 

It wasn't home, Nephera never thought of it as one. It was cold, due to the marble and the absence of rugs, but also because of how clean it was. Everything had its' place, every plate, every glass, every painting, every table, and Nephera, as her father so kindly reminded her. 

The Winchester pair had just arrived back at the manor after her haste departure from the platform, and Nephera took a second to steady her breathing and fix her expression and stance before turning around to face her father. 

"Father, I can see the holiday joy has made its way into you as well," she said, flashing him a very wide and very fake smile 

The eldest Winchester didn't respond as he glared at his daughter, grabbed her wrists, and slapped two bracelets on them, one on each wrist. 

Nephera felt a weight on her chest, and her knees would've given out if she hadn't caught herself in time. She didn't know what those bracelets were, but they were definitely magic, or rather, cursed in some way. 

"And what's this? Nice little pieces of jewelry, I'll admit," 

"I'm glad you like them, I bought them at knockturn alley," 

So they definitely are cursed thought Nephera 

"Silence one's magic, drain it out of them. Can't have a repeat of what happened at Hogsmead, can we?" 

The girl started panicking, but she didn't show it. She relied on magic and the chest of potions under the bed to heal herself, but now that her magic was taken away, well, there was little that potions could do. 

"You'll have to take them off eventually, you know. You can't send me off to school like this, what will the other Sacred Twenty-Eight families say?" she tried to bargain 

"Oh don't worry, I'll take them off once the break is over. And do not think that this discussion is over, there are a lot of topics we need to go over. But for now, get dressed, we have visitors in an hour." 

Nephera could only nod, scared by the tone her father used, as she moved up the grand staircase towards the fourth floor, where her room was located. Rubbing her wrists and trying to ignore the sinking feeling of emptiness in her stomach, she opened the door to find her bedroom, the same room that appeared in her nightmares all too often. 

On her bed was a gown she had never seen before, but was more luxurious than the rest she owned, and that certainly said something. Whatever the event at the manor was that night, it didn't have anything to do with the engagement, the dress was too provocative for that, and she was certain it had been taken care of by the letters she had sent, claiming that they were from Lestrange. 

"Mrs. Winchester, Blinky has been sent to get you dressed," came the voice of one of the house-elves 

"Hi, Blinky, can you tell me what this is about?" asked Nephera, hoping to gain some more information 

"Oh no, Blinky doesn't know anything! Blinky was only ordered to help Mrs. Winchester get dressed!" 

Nephera nodded and went behind the screen to get dressed. As much as she hated the upbringing, there was one thing she appreciated, and that was the dresses and the luxurious lifestyle. As always, she looked amazing in the dress her mother had picked out for her, and she exited the screen to sit in front of the vanity and allow the house-elf to start her hair and makeup.