Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter forty-six

Ellie backed out third, and soon, it was only Nephera and Marlene still playing. The Gryffindor was harder to read than the Slytherin thought, and she stared at her intently trying to figure out whether she was bluffing or not. 

"Just give up at this point, Winchester," said Marlene "It'll make it less painful," 

"Is there a reason why you'd want me to quit?" asked Nephera, raising an eyebrow "Perhaps a bad hand?" 

"If you're so sure, then why don't you raise?" 

Nephera shook her head and did just that, looking at the girl in front of her intently. The money wasn't a question, after sending her parents to Azkaban, she had full control over the Winchester vault at Gringotts, so she decided to raise the stakes significantly. 

"Riase you fifty galleons," she said 

Nephera's cards weren't the best, not by a longshot, but she'd be damned if she gave up in front of Marlene McKinnon of all people. She noticed the blonde look down at her cards for a brief second and tightening her grip. 

Marlene was stumped. Poker was one of her favorite games, and she rarely lost, although she'd never played against Nephera before. She never believed what they said about the girl being a stone wall when it came to revealing anything until that point. 

"Alright, maybe we should lower the bets," said Lily, sensing the tension rise in the room 

"Shut up," both girls growled at the same time, looking at each other and scoffing afterwords 

"Raise you sixty," said Marlene 

"I don't like this," muttered Alice 

"Don't worry, it's working," replied Ellie in a hushed voice 

The two of them kept raising the stakes, glaring at each other, although by that point, the frowns had turned to smirks. 

"Call," yeilded Marlene first, matching the previous bet 

The two showed their cards, and it became evident that neither of them had a good hand. In the end, to everyone's surprise, Marlene ended up winning, and to everyone's bigger surprise, Nephera didn't seem too angry at that. 

"You're not that bad," mused the Slytherin "At poker, I mean," 

Marlene chuckled "Well, you're not so bad either. Especially when I'm taking all your money," 

"Holy shit it did work," exclaimed Alice 

"Told you," replied Ellie smugly 

"You're like the Winchester whisperer," added Lily, before all three tuned back to the conversation of the two girls at the table 

"Don't get too excited, I'll be winning my money back soon," 

"Oh no, love, I'm smart enough to know how to quit while I'm ahead," replied Marlene, shaking her head "But you know, none of this would've happened if it wasn't for them," 

The Gryffindor and the Slytherin turned to look at the other three girls, who instantly got up after they saw their expressions, "Now, now, we just wanted the fighting to end," 

"Oh don't worry," said Nephera approaching them 

"It did," concluded Marlene, following after the Slytherin 

The students of Hogwarts had seen many weird things over the years, but Marlene McKinnon and Nephera Winchester chasing Alice Fortesque, Lily Evans, and Ellie Adams around the grounds was definitely one of them.