November 1st – Hufflepuff Dorms
Nephera woke up with a groan, opening her eyes and immediately closing them after the bright lights hit her face. By the brightness of the room and the warm body next to her, she denoted that she was in the Hufflepuff dorms, not the Slytherin ones. Her mind was foggy, and so she struggled to remember exactly how she got there.
Once she did, however, she let her head fall back into the pillow. It was humiliating for her, needing other people to come to her rescue because she couldn't deal with Lestrange of all people. It was even more humiliating that it was Sirius Black who was there. She couldn't remember what Lestrange had told her, nor what he had told Black, but she hoped it was nothing concerning their future arranged marriage, knowing that if it was, they would want to talk to her about it.
Glancing down at her watch, she saw that she still had two hours before classes, so she got out of bed, careful not to wake Ellie or any of her other roommates up, and left the room. Thankfully, she wasn't wearing last night's costume, but rather a pair of sleeping shorts and one of Ellie's sweaters, that she assumed the Hufflepuff changed her into last night.
Nephera hated this, she never got so drunk to the point where she lost control of her body and her words, not unless she was only surrounded by Ellie and Tony. But last night's frustrations around a certain Gryffindor had led her to drink more than she could handle. Grunting, she silently made her way out of the yellow common room and casted a disillusionment charm on herself, ensuring that no one would see her in such a state.
Thankfully, the Hufflepuff dorms were close to the dungeons, so she didn't have to walk too long with her headache. She decided to not take the disillusionment charm off yet, not wanting to run into anyone in the common room in such a state. Once she opened the door, she was glad she did, because she found Avery, Mulciber and Lestrange sitting on the couches in front of the fireplace, discussing in hushed voices.
"Is it happening this Christmas, then?" asked Avery
"Yes," replied Lestrange, although Nephera was certain that the boy's voice came out softer than what he intended it too "Let's see what Winchester and her guard dogs are going to say after,"
"I don't think it's her guard dogs we need to be worried about," sighed Mulciber "I'd rather get out of here before she comes back and realizes what we said to her and that mudblood yesterday,"
Nephera couldn't help but smirk when he said that, knowing that the boys at least had to common decency to be scared of her. She accented up the stairs to her dorm, and grabbed a uniform before entering the shower.
Up at the marauder's dorm, three of the boys were sleeping heavily while one was laying down on his bed, his eyes staring towards the dark ceiling intensely. Lestrange's words still hadn't left his mind, and he was happy he was the only one who understood them, because he knew that Nephera wouldn't like having something like that exposed to everyone.
Still, he had understood them and now they couldn't stop replaying in his head. He knew that there was no way the brunette would let herself be stuck in an arranged marriage, with Lestrange of all people, but he really had no idea what she would do until she managed to get rid of him.
James stirred from his bed next to him, and slowly opened his eyes, his hand running through his nightstand to locate his glasses. When he found them, he slipped them on and looked around the room, his eyes landing on his best friend.
"Pads," he asked, his voice still scratchy from sleep "Did you sleep at all, you look horrible,"
"No," deadpanned Sirius "Someone's going to have to keep me away from Lestrange today,"
"The feeling's mutual, she was scared yesterday mate, actually scared,"
"It's was the lights, and the shouting," explained Sirius "Remember when Peter thought it was a good idea to scare me one time, so he put on a wig and jumped on my bed, and I socked him in the jaw, thinking it was my mother?"
"You think she confused Lestrange with her father or something?"
"I don't know, maybe."
Running a hand over his face, James got up and started getting ready for the day, Sirius doing the same.
Down by the kitchens, Ellie was waking up and was surprised to find that Nephera wasn't there with her. The surprise turned to panic as last night's events came back into the Hufflepuff's mind, and she bolted out of bed, putting on her robes and brushing her hair as fast as she could, before running out of the common room, in the direction of the dungeons.
As she was running, she took notice of the many weird looks people sent her way, surprised to see the normally cheery blonde running around the castle as though it was on fire. Suddenly, she bumped into a wall- no, not a wall, she realized, Tony.
"Whoa, there. I was just coming to find you, what's wrong?"
"Nephera, when I woke up, she wasn't there," she said, breathing heavily
"It's fine, El. She probably just went back to the dorm to change-"
"Yes, but Lestrange-"
"Lestrange wasn't able to beat a drunk Nephera, I doubt he can do that with a sober one," said Tony, trying to calm his friend down
At this moment, the marauders walked up to them, Remus greeting his boyfriend with a small kiss, before turning his attention to the Hufflepuff.
"What's up?" asked the werewolf
"Nephera went back to the common room," breathed Ellie, and Sirius felt his blood rushing again
"What?" he asked, his jaw clenching
"Relax, both of you," intervened Remus "She obviously had to go back and shower, she'll be at breakfast, it'll be fine."
So the six of them walked towards the Gryffindor table, noticing that the seat they always occupied was left open for them, and sat down. Conversation flowed easily between them, all of them trying to stray away from last night's events, while they stole glances towards the door, waiting for the Slytherin to appear.
"Sorry, do you know where Nephera is?" asked a voice, and they turned around to see Adam Stark standing there
"No, Adam, sorry," replied Ellie with a sympathetic smile
"Oh, well, do you know if she has a date for Hogsmead?"
"Stark, she's told you that she doesn't go on dates, just drop it." Stated Tony, rolling his eyes
"I know but- you know what, Spectre? This doesn't concern you, just ask her if she has a date." He said before leaving
"I feel bad for the poor bloke," said Peter "he really does like her,"
Sirius rolled his eyes "He knew what he was getting into, it's not her fault." He said and lifted his eyes away from his coffee only to find all five of his friends staring at him
"Did he just defend her?" asked Peter
"I think so," replied James
"Oh, shut up," grumbled Sirius, scowling at his friend's wide smiles
Unbeknownst to them, the very Slytherin they were waiting for was just now leaving her dorm, after a long shower filled with self-loathing. Descending the stairs to the common room, she groaned internally when she saw that Lestrange and the rest were still sitting there, most likely waiting for her.
"Winchester-" started Avery
"Alright, let's get something straight you idiots. You want to talk to my father, that's fine, but you should know that it goes both ways," she stated, interrupting him and smirking when she saw them shut their mouths and stare at her with wide eyes
"For example, how would your father react, Mulciber, when he finds out you lost eighty galleons on a chess game against a muggleborn,"
Mulciber gulped audibly, already picturing his father yelling at him, not for losing the money, but for losing against someone lesser than him.
"Or maybe, Avery, I should tell your parents about that one blanket you keep under your bed, that you used to not be able to sleep without until third year, and still need it whenever there's a storm because you're afraid of lighting,"
"How do you know-"
"I know everything, love. This brings me to my next point, imagine your father's reaction when I tell him that you got beaten up by a blood traitor and a woman, I can't imagine he'd like that,"
"You wouldn't-" he said, his eyes growing wide
"Oh but I would," she smirked "I was every bit open to keeping our differences between us, but you decided to involve my parents. You wanted to get close to me? Congrats love, you got your wish."
She turned on her heel and walked out, leaving behind three dumbfounded Slytherins gaping at the spot where she was just standing.
"I told you earlier, we should've left it alone," grunted Mulciber
"And what, just let her walk all over me?" snapped Lestrange
"Yes, you idiot. Now we have to deal with an angry Winchester, and our parents, congrats."
Nephera walked to the Great Hall, a small skip in her step and already feeling like herself, last night's failure slipping at the back of her mind for now as she stepped into the Hall confidently. She found the other six sitting at the Gryffindor table, and walked towards them.
"You look happy," said Tony "Do I need to hide a body?"
"Not yet," she said, grabbing some coffee and lighting a cigarette "I just started my day off with some blackmailing, it was fun."
"Aren't you worried you're going to get caught smoking?" asked Peter, raising an eyebrow
"And don't you want to eat something?" added James
"This is my breakfast," replied the brunette, gesturing towards the coffee and the cigarette "And I don't really care if I get caught."
"You can't just not eat breakfast!" exclaimed James
"We all know who the mom friend is," mumbled Tony and Remus snickered, although it quickly turned into a cough
"You okay Rem?" asked Tony, concerned
"I'm fine, it's just that the you-know-what is in a couple of days," he whispered
They all nodded solemnly before an idea popped into Nephera's head "You know, my father has a potions lab in the basement, I could try brewing some wolfsbane over the holidays,"
They all exchanged a heavy glance once the Slytherin mentioned going homes for the holidays, but decided against mentioning it. It was rare for the girl to be in a visibly good mood, and none of them wanted to disrupt that.
"You can do that?" asked Remus, slightly surprised
They all knew Nephera was good at potion making, but wolfsbane was a very tricky potion, and heavily regulated by the ministry as well.
"Yeah, I mean, it can't be harder than brewing veritaserum, right?"
"You brewed veritaserum?" whisper-shouted Peter "That's illegal!"
"Yes, because none of us have ever done anything illegal before," she pointed out, raising an eyebrow
"What did you even need it for?" asked James
"That's a pretty funny story, actually. Black, remember the end-of-summer gala at the Rosiers after our second year?"
"Yeah, the one where everyone started spewing out the first thing that came to mind. It was total chaos when Mrs. Nott yelled that she was having an affair with one of the Wizengamot members –WAIT!"
Nephera's smirk only deepened as she watched the Gryffindor realize who was behind it all "oh yes," she replied smugly
"That was you?" he said, a small smile on his face "It was the most fun I'd had in a ball like that,"
"I brewed it and slipped it into some of the drinks, and then I just sat back and relished in the chaos that followed," she said
"Are we just going to ignore that she just admitted to brewing veritaserum, illegally, in second year?" said Remus
Nephera opened her mouth to reply, but she closed it as her eyes caught onto Lestrange and his friends entering the room, and she followed them with her eyes until they sat down at the Slytherin table.
"What are you-" started Ellie, but then she realized what her friend was looking at "Oh,"
"Don't worry, I took care of them this morning," she replied smugly
"That's who you blackmailed" exclaimed Sirius "Are you an idiot?"
The other five stilled at that, while they agreed with what he said, they knew that his choice of delivery would lead to another argument, and they were right.
"Excuse me?" asked Nephera, turning towards him
"I asked if you're an idiot." He repeated, "DO you not remember what happened last night?"
"I can deal with them just fine!" her voice was growing louder, as was his
"Oh, of course you can! Especially with the way you were trembling like a leaf yesterday!"
Nephera scoffed, rolled her eyes, and stood up "Speak to me like that again, and you'll have a front-row demonstration of how exactly I'm going to deal with them." She deadpanned and left
"Nice going Black," grumbled Tony
"Oh come on, you were all thinking it!"
"Yes, but don't you think you approached it a little too harshly?" asked Ellie "I have to go find her before she hexes some poor first-year."
Ellie got up and left as well, as did Sirius a few seconds later, not being in the mood for a lecture by James. He was deeply annoyed with the way the brunette was acting, He knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but that doesn't mean she should antagonize them that much, especially with Christmas break growing closer and closer.
He passed one of the windows, where he saw Ellie talking to Nephera, the latter making large gestures while she spoke, showing just how angry she was. He flinched slightly when his gaze met hers, and he decided at that moment that it would be best for him to stay away from the girl, just until she calmed down.
---
November 9th – Quidditch Pitch
Nephera, Remus and Peter were all sitting on one of the benches at the Quidditch Pitch, watching as Sirius, James, Ellie, and Tony played a mock game of Quidditch. They were all on their respective house teams, and an argument during lunch that day concerning which team was better had led them to their current predicament.
They all played in their usual positions, Tony as keeper, James and Ellie were chasers, and Sirius was shooting bludgers towards them, although it should be noted that he was aiming most of them towards the Hufflepuff, and not his teammate.
"Black, if you don't start playing fairly, I'll aim a bludger to you, and I promise you it'll be painful!" shouted Nephera
"Still mad at him then?" mused Remus
"For the way he called me an idiot? Yes, yes I am."
"You know he was right though," tried Peter, but then quickly continued "Not for the idiot part! But for you taking it easy with the other Slytherins,"
"I can handle them!"
"We know, Nephera, but you should still try to avoid having to do that,"
Before Nephera could reply, a large yelp caught their attention and they all turned towards the Pitch, only to see James get hit by a bludger and start falling off his broom. Thankfully, Nephera managed to immobilize him a few seconds before he hit the ground, and they all rushed down.
"Is he okay?" asked Ellie once Nephera set him down on the ground
"I don't know, the bludger hit him pretty hard," replied Sirius "Prongs, prongs can you hear me?"
James groaned in response, and Remus sighed "We should take him to the hospital wing," but when he went to pick his friend up, Tony and Sirius stopped him
"The full moon is tonight, you should be at the wing too, no matter how 'fine' you say you are," stated Sirius as he and Tony looped their arms around James and pulled him off the ground, the others following behind him
Entering the hospital wing, they saw the mediwitch fumbling about over one of the beds where a sick Ravenclaw was laying at "Mr. Lupin I have been looking for you all day, where- oh Merlin is that Mr. Potter?"
"Yes, we were playing Quidditch and he got hit by a bludger," said Tony, setting him down on one of the beds
"Well, it doesn't look too bad," said the mediwitch after examining him for a few seconds "But he'll have to stay here overnight,"
James grumbled something about the full moon, but Ellie slapped a hand on his mouth before he could give away the secret "Of course he'll stay here tonight, Mme. Pomfrey!" she said, glaring at him
"what are we going to do tonight?" asked Sirius, knowing that a dog wasn't enough to keep a werewolf at bay in case it smelled humans
"If you need another large animal, I can always join, just for this time," said Nephera
"Absolutely not." Interjected Remus "You could get hurt,"
"I could get hurt walking down the stairs, the point is, a dog and a rat aren't enough."
"Mate, I hate to admit this but she's right," sighed Sirius
Remus finally conceited, remembering what had happened the last full moon, when it took a combination of James, Sirius, and Nephera to stop him from attacking Ellie and Tony.
"Meet us outside the Gryffindor common room at ten tonight, don't be late Winchester."
"Alright General Black," she mocked
A/N
2.9k words
i'm going shopping today and i'm excited lmao because i haven't done that in a long time
don't forget to comment and vote!
xx