Tenebrous ❆ Sirius Black [2]

Chapter Three

Time passed by much quicker than anyone had expected it to. Days blurred together and people fell into their new routines. Nadia would spend her days either helping take care of Gwen along with Nicholas whenever Eliza and Adam would need them; going to Order meetings, or just catching up on all the reading she missed out on while she was studying for the N.E.W.T.s. And so, just like that, the first month of summer passed.

It didn't take long for certain traditions to be established. One of such traditions was a weekly dinner with all her friends. Even though they all saw each other quite frequently anyways, they had made a point of starting the tradition as soon as possible, so that by the time their lives got busy and there came new things to focus on in the future, they would still have the dinners to bind them together, never letting them drift apart.

However, this week's dinner was slightly different. While they were usually held at Sirius' place as he was the only one to already be living alone (with Camille claiming his kitchen as her own), this night they were all at the Beauchamp family home, and spending the night. Because after the long night birthday celebration they had for Camille's birthday, nobody was awake enough to apparate back to their homes.

Some had managed to muster up enough energy to get to an actual bed while others could be found sound asleep in the living room, sprawled over the arm chairs or the sofa. Nadia and Sirius shared the sofa while Marlene and Peter seemed to have fallen asleep in quite awkward positions on the soft and comfy chairs. Despite their cramped space, all seemed to be sleeping peacefully. However, not all was as it appeared on the outside.

It was the soft whimpers that woke Sirius from his slumber and made him look down at the brunette who slept in his arms. Her brows were scrunched up, and from the way she continued to clutch on to his shirt, Sirius quickly understood she was having a nightmare. But he wasn't certain whether he should wake her. It could be another one of her dreams, and waking her too early would possibly diminish its importance.

As he watched her he wanted nothing more than to wake her and to bring her out of the nightmare. But he didn't have to debate whether he should do it for long, because only moments after Nadia jumped up into a sitting position. Her eyes were scanning the room in a panic as he sat up with her, his hand instantly going to her shoulder, the contact making her jump as he startled her.

"Hey, you're okay. Everything's okay." He whispered to her reassuringly, but grew only more worried as she shook her head to say it wasn't while a glimmer of tears appeared in her eyes. "What did you see in the dream?"

"It's my dad. I need to get home." She said in a tone of urgency, her feet already moving down to the floor as she stood from the sofa, beginning to scour the living room in search of her wand as her fear consumed her. She couldn't lose him. Not him too. As she said what she did, worry sparked within Sirius instantly, and he too was quickly on his feet.

"Guys, wake up." He called to Marlene and Peter who remained oblivious to the commotion around them.

"What's going on?" Marlene questioned as she jumped from her position as she noticed the distressed looks on their faces.

"We have to go! It's Nadia's dad." Sirius informed quickly before his eyes spotted Nadia's wand on one of the shelves and rushed over to grab it for her. He handed it to her as he rejoined her side.

"I'm gonna go wake the others." Peter said quickly moving out of his chair and rushing upstairs.

"I'm going now. I can't wait. I can't risk it." Nadia said with a worried voice as she took her wand from Sirius hand and thanked him for getting it for her.

"I'm coming with you. The others can follow." Sirius said. He didn't know what waited for them there, but he sure as hell wasn't letting her march in alone.

"Me too. Come on." Marlene said confidently. With a final look shared among the three, they quickly disapparated from Camille's living room and appeared in the front lawn of Nadia's house. The inside was dark, and neither one of them could see any movement.

Nadia didn't spare even a moment before rushing through the front door and pushing it open with much more force than necessary, instantly calling out to her dad as she entered. Sirius and Marlene followed after her, they to starting to call out to the man. However, quickly after they entered the sound of footsteps rushing down from the second floor of the house made them quiet down as they turned their voice to the approaching figure.

"Lumos." Marlene cast so they could see who was coming towards them, but once the person came to sight their wands instantly lowered.

"Nadia? Sweetie, what's going on? I thought you were sleeping over at Camille's?" Konstantin asked curiously. Having been woken up by the loud commotion and his daughter's panicked voice calling out to him sent chills down his spine and he worried what was wrong.

"You're okay." She let out a breath of relief, lowering her wand as she rushed to hug him. He was able to react just in time, opening his arms and letting his daughter hug him as tight as possible and he hugged her back.

"I'm okay darling I'm okay. Vse v poryadke." He whispered reassuringly, repeating it over and over again in both English and Russian as she held on to him tightly, tears of relief starting to flow from her eyes. She had gotten so scared.

"We're here." James' voice reached everyone's ears as he, Lily, Peter, Camille and Remus rushed into the house with their wands drawn, but upon seeing there seemed to be no threat they lowered them with questioning looks.

"What's going on? Peter said you had a dream?" Remus asked worriedly, looking towards Nadia who pulled out of her father's arms as she looked back to her friends, starting to feel guilty.

"It was just a dream darling, I'm okay. You've put so many spells on this place nobody can get in." Konstantin spoke in a soothing voice, his words making everyone's shoulders relax as they were now sure there was no threat inside the home.

"I'm sorry guys. I guess I just... I didn't want to take the risk of thinking it was just a nightmare." Nadia said apologetically making everyone send her reassuring smiles and sympathetic looks.

"Hey, you don't need to apologize. Each one of us would have done the same were we in your shoes." Lily spoke gently as she put her wand back into her pocket, realizing now that there was no need for it.

"Thank you all for coming." Konstantin said. Even though there was no danger or trouble, he felt grateful to them all for taking the risk just for him. "I'm sure you all want to get back." He said, it was late and they all must've been tired.

"I'm actually going to stay." Nadia said, turning to look at Camille apologetically knowing that this put quite a damper on her birthday, but the French girl spoke before she could utter her apologies.

"I can stay too if you want to. We all can. Just in case." Camille said gently. She didn't expect Nadia to leave, not now. After what happened she imagined it would be hard to leave her father.

"I've slept on the floor enough times, I don't mind one more." James said with a positive tone, he too was ready to spend the night here. It wouldn't be the first time and he too wanted to be sure. While Nadia's dream may not have happened instantly after she had it, nobody wanted to risk leaving the house again for the night.

"Well I'm sure we have enough space so nobody has to take the floor, and you're all more than welcome to stay." Konstantin reassured with a small chuckle caused by James' words. "Come on, let's get you all settled in."

Published: 26th September, 2019