Tenebrous ❆ Sirius Black [2]

Chapter Fifty Eight

The crowd was unruly, everyone arguing with one another and turning on each other. It was an unusual sight as members of the Order had never been so vicious in previous meetings. With the most recent attack, one that could've ended quite disastrously had Camille not been awake at the time, an emergency meeting of the Order had been called a day later. And had it been for any other reason, Nadia wouldn't have come. But this was about keeping Lily and James, as well as Frank and Alice, safe. Or at least it was supposed to be. 

"Why else would Avery have thought only Nadia and Lily would be in the house?! Someone who knew of our plan told them the perfect chance to strike!" Remus exclaimed in anger, his glare focused solely on Sirius. He was so convinced, unable to see or to understand all the reasons why it couldn't be true. 

"The plan was for Nadia and Lily to be by themselves, at least that was the plan we knew. Isn't it quite convenient that Death Eaters appeared the one time Camille isn't supposed to be around?" Sirius retaliated and made what seemed like a good point as multiple people that had been listening to the argument between the two now looked at Remus in an accusatory manner. 

The two girls in question remained together, sitting side by side in one of the booths of the Hog's Head Inn with Nadia's head leaning on Camille's shoulder while she tried to tune out all of the yelling and arguing. By now, both knew better than to try and intervene when Remus and Sirius fought. But that didn't mean that they remained unbothered by the constant presence of their names in the wretched arguments. 

"We were discussing the plan before the last meeting! Someone could have heard us, you can't instantly jump on each other!" James refused to give up, standing between Sirius and Remus and acting as the voice of reason. But as always, it was futile. 

"Sirius, the evidence is stacked up against you. Your family, your past… I mean, why has nobody ever wondered why the story of Nadia's escape from captivity is so vague? As a Death Eater it was easy for you to orchestrate it, throw suspicion of yourself in the process." Remus ranted off, getting carried away in his anger. 

Nadia did her best to hold back a flinch as he turned down this specific road. Never before had they thought this would come back with a bite. At the time when they made up a foolish, half story, everyone had just been relieved Nadia was back and hadn't been asking any questions. 

"Remus! That's enough!" James quickly jumped in, this time his own voice turning angry as he shot a pointed look towards the Lupin boy. 

James knew this statement would be damning for Sirius in the eyes of everyone who didn't know the true story of how Nadia was rescued. Only he, Lily and Marlene were the ones clued in on Nadia and Sirius' secret. And now, with a traitor among them, it needed to stay that way. 

"Perhaps it'd be best if we took a short break to calm down?" Nicholas called to the crowd, his voice calm and diplomatic, a skill obtained because of his work with the Ministry. He looked towards Dumbledore from where he stood beside Nadia, his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Others did the same, looking towards the headmaster who seemed to be doing his best to keep a riled up Alastor Moody at bay.