Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter seventeen

They held eye contact for a few seconds, not saying anything before they both broke away and joined their friends in teasing James about how predictable he could be sometimes.

Their minds, however, were focused elsewhere. Nephera could practically hear the cogs turning in the Gryffindor's head, and suppressed a smirk knowing that every time she made a comment like that, he couldn't stop thinking about her, which no doubt annoyed him to no end.

And Sirius was doing just that. He knew that Nephera had it tough at home, just like he did before he had run off to James's last Christmas, but it made no sense for her to be able to recognize attack patterns like she just had. His parents, cruel as they may be, had only ever used magic against him. Granted, it was dark and very painful magic, but magic nonetheless, they themselves never touched him, in the literal sense. So why could the brunette girl next to him be able to dodge a physical attack so quickly?

"Alright, I'm freezing out here, and I'm in dire need of a butterbeer-" started Sirius

"That rhymed," piped in Ellie, receiving a harsh glare from the raven-haired boy

"As I was saying," he started again, more sternly than the last time "I'm hungry and thirsty, so could we please go eat somewhere?"

It barely midday, so it was obvious to everyone that Sirius wasn't as hungry as he said he was, but simply wanted to get away from the cold, without admitting that he was freezing. Nevertheless, the others agreed, also wanting to get away from the snow.

"We're not going to find anything at the three broomsticks, it's probably already full," said Remus

"Hog's head then?" suggested Ellie, and everyone turned to look at her, shocked that she, of all people, would suggest going to the dirty pub

Tony took out his wand and cast several warming and drying charms on all of them, and after they were no longer shivering from the cold and their clothes had dried up, they started walking towards the dirty pub. Nephera and Sirius had decided to have their daily bickering session as they turned into one of the alleys that would lead them to the pub.

"Nephera," said a voice, and everyone turned around, taking a few steps back once they saw who was standing there

Six out of the seven teens felt their eyes widen and a shiver go up their spines when they came face to face with Castiel Winchester. None of them, barring Sirius, had ever seen the man up close before, and if they had thought that he was intimidating from a distance, he was downright terrifying from up close. Tall, wearing all black with a strict expression on his face and cold eyes, they all sucked in a breath in fear.

The Slytherin was frozen in place, not being able to speak or move. She had always thought of Hogwarts as her safe place, a place where, for nine months a year, she could live her life as a teen, without her parent's shadow looming over her. Yet, her father always had a talent for turning even the purest of things into something dark, and he did just that by visiting her in Hogsmead that day.

Her friends instantly noticed the way the brunette was standing, her hand had flown into her robes, no doubt holding her wand, and she was staring at her father with wide eyes filled with fear. They didn't know what scared them the most, the man himself, or the way he had the ability to turn one of the most hard-headed and confident people they had ever met into a scared child.

Tony instantly pulled Ellie back, since she was a muggleborn. He knew for a fact that Nephera's father was a supporter of the Dark Lord, and that he was deeply prejudiced himself, and he also knew that Ellie never took lightly to someone posing a threat to her friends. That was only proven right when the blonde girl tried to dart away from him, only to have him pull her behind for a second time.