Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter seventy-seven

November 3rd - Knockturn Alley 

It was early in the morning, a few hours before dawn, in fact, and a Sunday. Normally, Nephera would never have woken up at such an early hour, but today was an exception. It was Sirius's birthday, and they were meant to go camping that night and return a few hours before classes started on Monday. 

However, Ailani had some news for her and so the girl had apparated there at that ungodly hour. 

Knockturn Alley was probably the last place she should be, considering who was after her, but she found herself walking through the dirty streets nevertheless, the hood of her cloak pulled over her head. 

There was also the fact that Sirius had, indeed, managed to throw the rest of the marauders out of the dorm that night, and so the brunette was now fighting really hard to conceal a limp. 

She had left a note on the bedside table, telling him that she'd just apparated to Diagon Alley to grab some extra drinks for that night.

Someone knocked into her, and she staggered to the right slightly, her hood falling down. 

She would've kept on walking, had it not been for the person yelling very obnoxiously, "Oi, you're that girl-" she placed a silencing charm on him instantly, but the damage was already done 

Multiple pairs of eyes had flashed towards her, and with her hood down, she was very easily recognizable. 

"Well, well, well," drawled a woman from next to her, "If it isn't little Winchester," 

Safe to assume, Voldemort had put a hefty price on her head, and so the mention of her name made many people start surrounding her. 

"You know who I am, so you know what I'm capable of," stated the brunette, gripping her wand inside her pocket, "Back away and let me pass," 

"I don't think so darling," snarled a different wizard 

The Slytherin was ready for a duel, if the situation arose, but doing that meant attracting even more attention from everyone around her, which was exactly what she was trying to avoid. Looking around in the most discreet way possible she tried to find a way out of her current situation, although it was clear that it wouldn't be easy. 

"Stupefy!" she heard someone yell, and threw up a Protego instantly 

The duel didn't get too far, since a few seconds later, the people surrounding her had bee reduced to nothing more than tiny piles of dust on the floor. Looking up in surprise, she smirked when she saw Ailani twisting her wand lazily in her hands, "Are you coming? I'm afraid the person waiting for us didn't exactly come here voluntarily," 

The younger witch nodded and followed after the older one, no one else daring to disturb the pair. Even though people had seen her there, Nephera knew she'd be safe once they reached AIlani's shop, the place was probably better protected than even Hogwarts itself. This time, however, the curtains were drawn closed, which Nephera was sure had never seen before in its particular case. 

The second she walked inside, she realized why. 

There was an old man, his hair and beard already greying, his clothes looked expensive, although now they appeared tattered and dirty. He was sitting straight, despite the fact that he was clearly tired and hurt, showing that he was someone of proper and rich upbringing. He wasn't shackled to the floor, or tied up anywhere, so for a second, the young girl wandered why he wasn't moving. 

Looking at the ceiling, she saw the reason why: a witch's trap. A five-point star with a pentagon surrounding it, and a multitude of runes, drawn in black chalk. The drawing in itself was useless, but it could be activated with a simply incantation, and once that happened, the person couldn't move from it's boundaries, nor perform magic once he was within them.