Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter eighty

December 4th - Marauders Dorm 

It was the day that both Nephera and Remus were dreading for than anything, Tony's eighteenth birthday. 

Or what would've been Tony's eighteenth birthday had he still been alive. 

The Slytherin, who had essentially moved into the boy's dorm after Sirius had carried her there when she was released from the hospital wing in October, refused to wake up. She stayed under the safety of Sirius's covers, not wanting to face the world. 

Remus was doing the exact same, both of them pretending to sleep while the rest had gone to class. Lily had come up at some point and had left them some toast and jam on one of the desks, but neither teen had moved to eat it. 

Other than that, the rest of their friends had given them their privacy after Alice said it would be best to give them space rather than smother them. 

It was ten in the morning when Remus decided that he at least had to get up and check on the girl in the room and by that point the sun was high up on the horizon and was reflected on the snow all over the grounds. The day would've been beautiful had it not been so sad. 

"Neph," said the werewolf, nudging her arm gently, "Come on, wake up," 

She only pulled the covers higher up in response, letting them engulf her completely. Remus sighed and decided to sit on the bed as well, prying the covers off of her, "At least eat something," 

She sat up, waving her hand and making her hair tie itself up in a bun, "That goes for you too," she said, taking note of his dark circles and the untouched plates of food on Peter's desk 

The werewolf gave her a small smile and levitated a pack of cigarettes from his bag as Nephera picked up an ashtray from Sirius's bedside table. The Slytherin shuffled on the bed, crossing her legs and tucking them under her, leaving room for the boy to sit comfortably at the foot of the bed. He lit up a cigarette before giving the packet to her, letting her take one for herself, "Is this where we talk about our feelings and cry?" she sassed 

Remus shook his head, seeing through the girl's defenses, "I grew up with Sirius Black as a best friend, you're not going to be able to fool me, Mortem," 

She inhaled the smoke slowly, letting it burn down her throat before she exhaled, "I'm not the only one shoving everything down," she pointed out, "You are good as I am at keeping shit to yourself, which is what you're doing now by occupying yourself with talking to me," 

The boy scoffed out a laugh, "It's infuriating when you do that, and don't try to deflect on me," he took in a deep breath, "My mum, she had a small house over in Kent, just one bedroom and a kitchen that doubled as a living room, it was my grandfather's. Last summer I worked on it a bit, renovated it, I was planning to surprise him and have us live there after school," 

She looked at him and noticed that even though his eyes were pointed towards the window behind her, his gaze was far away, "He would've liked it," she said in an uncharacteristically soft voice, "He never was a fan of luxury," 

"No, he really wasn't," he agreed, taking in another drag of the cigarette in front of him. A thought crossed him then, Nephera had never been to Tony's grave, or Ellie's, for that matter, "Do you want to go?" he asked 

"Go where?" 

He took in a deep breath, not knowing how she'd react to what he was about to say, "His grave, me and the lads visited it while you were away... Just thought you might like to visit it," 

Nephera felt a tear escape her eye, but wiped it hastily, putting on a brave face as she always did, "Yes, actually, I'll go get ready," she said, forcing a steady tone to her voice