Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter sixty-nine

September 19th - Hogwarts 

The marauders and the Gryffindor girls once again found themselves in Dumbledore's office. Once again, they got their hopes up, thinking it had something to do with Nephera and once again they were left in tears and heartbroken. 

Ellie and Tony were dead. 

They had been killed, last night. 

No one knew what to say, no one knew what to do. 

They were only seventeen, they were far too young to be dealing with so much grief. 

But alas, war rarely discriminated.

Ellie, the cheerful Hufflepuff who would always calm them down and bring their spirits up, was dead. 

Tony, the smart and witty Ravenclaw who was always up for a good debate, was dead. 

Ellie, the girl who always seemed to carry snacks with her wherever she was, was dead. 

Tony, the boy who was next to their hospital beds after a bad full moon with coffee and hot chocolate, was dead. 

Dumbledore was looking at them through his half-moon spectacles, awaiting their reactions. The last bit of hope the teens had was slowly simmering away. Voldemort had kicked them while they were down, and the Gryffindors hated to admit it, but he had won. 

 "What do you mean-" croaked Remus, "What do you mean they're- they're..." 

"Dead, Mr. Lupin. I'm deeply sorry, I truly am," said the Headmaster 

McGonagall was at the corner of the room, looking at everyone apprehensively, trying to keep the tears from falling. She would never admit it out loud, even though everyone knew, but the four boys had always been her favorites, and Nephera had joined that place in her heart as well last year. 

And now the four of them were sitting there, having lost two more friends, and the fifth was probably dead. 

"How?" asked James, leaning into Lily slightly as he tried to come to terms with it

"They attacked at her aunt's house, we're assuming that Mrs. Adams's parents weren't the targets at all, it was Ellie and Tony that they wanted." 

Alice looked around, "Headmaster, if it isn't too much to ask, could you, uhm," 

"Of course, Mrs. Fortesque, you may have your privacy," he nodded and then gestured to the older witch in the room and the two of them left the teenagers alone 

No one spoke for a while. Remus was the worst off, he was shaking in his seat, silent tears making their way down his cheeks as he tried to appear strong and unphased. 

But in reality, the werewolf couldn't do it anymore. His boyfriend had died, one of his best friends was missing, and the fucking full moon was in two days. 

"They're dead," whispered Peter, "They're dead," 

"Yes, thank you for that, wormtail, we hadn't realized," snarked Sirius, lighting up a cigarette 

Had it been anyone else, that level of sarcasm would be deeply offensive and disrespectful, but they knew Sirius. They knew that the sarcasm and the ironies were nothing more but a way for him to cover up his hurt. 

James placed a hand on his brother's shoulder affectionately. 

"No, Merlin how can't you see it!" exclaimed Peter, "We're getting picked off, one by one. It started with Nephera-" 

"Don't you dare finish that fucking sentence Pettigrew," snapped Sirius, standing up 

"You need to accept it, all of you!" screamed the mousy boy, "Nephera's dead, Ellie is dead, Tony is dead. There's no use fighting this war!"