Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter seventy

October 1st - Gryffindor Common Room 

It was officially one month after Nephera's disappearance, and there was still no trace of her. At that point, the group of teens had begun to lose hope. 

Sirius, as he had promised before he left, had returned to Hogwarts for the full moon. He had gone to Ailani, to see if she had heard anything, any whispered around Kockturn Alley about where Nephera might be, but apparently, Voldemort had done a very good job at keeping it hidden. 

The Hawaiian witch had promised to keep an eye out and do everything she could to figure it out. The raven-haired boy had thanked her and left the Alley, knowing that it would be best for him not to be fought there at night. 

He had gone back to Nephera's apartment and had stayed there for the night, not wanting to go back to Hogwarts quite yet. It was just as he had remembered it, and for a moment, he hoped to see the Slytherin walk into the living room from the kitchen, carrying a bowl of pomegranate. 

Still, he couldn't find it within him to cry, to mourn, to do anything of the sort, because he still believed that the brunette was alive. Call it denial, call it baseless hope, but the Gryffindor somehow knew that she couldn't be dead. 

In a drunken and borderline manic state, the eldest of the Black brothers had decided that getting multiple tattoos would be the best way to deal with everything that had been going on. 

Maybe he was just looking for something to feel, something that was all too familiar with him: pain. 

The full moon that night had been absolutely torturous. Remus was still dealing with Tony's death, which had caused him to become more aggressive than usual, and scratch himself much more. 

He had three new scars, one on his face, one down his torso, and one on his right arm, but he didn't have Tony. The Ravenclaw had been there for every single one of his full moons over the past year, reassuring him that his scars were not something he should be ashamed of and that he wasn't a monster, but Tony was not there now. 

Because Tony was dead, James had to take over for him after to full moon, making sure that his best friend didn't fall deeper into the depressive mindset he was currently in.  This was proven harder than he thought, especially since the werewolf had decided to drink himself into a stupor and wreck their dorm. 

Peter was barely any help. He had joined them on the full moon, that was something he'd always do despite how angry he was with the rest of them, but apart from that, the mousy boy had pulled away from the group completely. After their argument in Dumbledore's office, the day they had found out Ellie and Tony were dead, everyone could tell that there was a rift in the marauders. 

James, Remus, and Sirius on one side, and Peter on the other. 

It was something the students of Hogwarts had never seen before, the four boys had been thick as thieves since the first year, but then again, things were different at Hogwarts now. 

Alice, Marlene, and Lily took over looking after Peter, despite being slightly vexed at him for what he had said. Still, they knew they couldn't leave the boy alone at a time like this, so they tried to put everything aside and help him with his grief. 

Currently, the three girls and Peter were sitting at the couches next to the fireplace in the common room, while the other three marauders were sitting on the armchairs at the other side of the room. 

Professor McGonagall walked in and took in the scene, sighing quietly before speaking up, "Black, Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew, Evans, Fortesque and McKinnon, the headmaster has asked for you,"