Frigus . Sirius Black (Mortem BOOK 2)

chapter fifty-four

note: this is shit, and it can definitely be rewritten better, but hey! at least i'm writing again, right? 

ps. go to the end note to see my movie-worthy summer and why i haven't been writing (and no it's not a happy movie) 

January 20th, 1980 - Grimmauld Place, Order Meeting 

Christmas had come and gone, as had the new year, and alongside a new promise from Sirius, that they'd capture him that year, that it would all be over in less than twelve months. Nephera doubted that, although she did not have the courage to voice it against her wizard's horrifying optimism, which she also suspected was nothing but a front as well. They were no closer to capturing her father than they were a month ago, nor any other Death Eaters for that matter. The Order had come to a standstill, they were still patrolling, trailing for intel, and she still had her contacts in Knockturn Alley flagging down any suspicious behavior, but even they had not noted anything of value. 

If there was one thing Nephera knew, was that silence was never a good thing. 

It made everyone else uneasy as well, all of them fearing some sort of big attack. Looking around the room, Nephera realized just how long it had been since she and the rest of her friends all hung out together outside of Auror meetings. Barring Sirius, who she lived with, and James, Alice, Frank, and the Prewetts, who she worked with, she had barely seen Peter and Remus, with the exception of the full moon two nights ago. A pang of sadness hit her suddenly, realizing just how much she missed those times when they would all gather in the marauder's dorm back at Hogwarts and simply talk about whatever came to mind. 

They weren't at Hogwarts anymore though, and there wasn't anything else to talk about other than the war surrounding them all, "Ms. Winchester," came McGonagall's voice, "Were you listening?" 

She snapped her head away from the portrait of the Black family that was hung above the fireplace in the living room, finding everyone around her already staring at her, "Yes, I was," she replied, "Increasing patrols, constant vigilance according to Moody, keep to ourselves, the usual," 

Sirius, James, and Peter exchanged a glance, much like they always did whenever Nephera was acting oddly. The girl had closed in on herself even further when news of her father's reduced sentence had reached them and refused to talk about it to anyone. While they understood to some extent, that did not mean they liked the way she insisted on keeping them out of the loop. Remus, though, ever more patient and more knowing than the other three, knew that there was more to it. The recent developments had brought to the forefront of his mind what Nephera had told him about the fortune teller and the fae. 

Loss and Heartbreak had come true, Betrayal was the only one left, and the werewolf knew that the brunette was spiraling into her own mind. That was the problem with intelligence such as Nephera's,  the fact that she thought of every possible opportunity was as much of a curse as it was a blessing. Her father being back would've only amplified that paranoia, "What are we doing about Castiel?" asked Remus, giving her the opportunity to voice her thoughts out loud, knowing how that often helped her 

She tensed up at the mention of the name, it was invisible to most, but the marauders had long since trained their eyes to look for the things most would miss. Sirius placed a hand on her knee under the table, making sure to be discreet knowing how much Nephera valued her image in front of the entire Order, "The plan is simple. We use the lower levels to flush him out of whatever cave he's crawled into, we make them believe that turning him in will make them more useful to Riddle," she replied, "The issue is, there are no low-levels to be found. This silence is not good, though, I believe we all know this," 

It was James that spoke up, "Then how about we push him a bit, might force him to show his hand or at least something that might clue us into what he's doing,"