March 31st - Great Hall
It was a very tense breakfast for the group of friends, on the day that Easter Break was set to begin. They were all staring at the Slytherin, who was drinking her coffee as though nothing was wrong, debating whether to hit her over the head or grab her arm and apparate at the Potter estate at that second.
"Why's everyone so tense?" asked Lily, sitting down next to James
"Because the rest of them don't believe in free will and freedom of choice," snarked Nephera
"Correction," countered Sirius "because Nephera over there has absolutely no care for her personal safety,"
Lily didn't know what was going on, but it was obvious that she had just opened a can of worms, and she did the best to contain the situation, "Well, I'm actually quite nervous to meet the Potters, to be honest," she said, trying to shift the subject
"Oh, they're great," said the Slytherin "I mean, I only met them for five minutes, but they seem like really good people,"
"And they'll love you, Lils, don't worry," said James, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend and kissing her temple "And I'm sure they'd love to see Nephie again," he pointed out
"And I'm sure they'd love not having Death Eaters knock on their door even more," she pointed out
"What?" asked Lily, clearly confused and slightly scared
"Oh, we haven't told you? Yes, see Nephera wants to go home for Easter, despite the fact that her parents are you-know-whats," said Peter, pointing his fork at the brunette accusingly
"What?" exclaimed Lily, turning to look at the Slytherin in surprise "Why the bloody hell would you do that? I remember how you looked when you came back-"
"Let's get one thing straight," stated the Slytherin "No one mentions Christmas, is that clear?"
"Do we not mention it in your funeral as well?" asked Tony "Because that's where we're headed right now,"
"Oh please! I've got it handled!"
"You don't have shit handled!" rebutted the werewolf "You are coming to the Potters, Nephera. We care too much about you to let you do this,"
"You don't let me do shit, I just do it. And why can't any of you understand that this isn't about my safety, but yours?"
"Why not just go to the ministry?" asked the redhead
Nephera scoffed, "Yes, because who will they believe? My father, head of the Wizengamot, backed up by some of the most powerful families, or me, a seventeen-year-old?"
The Gryffindor quickly realized her mistake, and nodded her head "So just run away!"
"Evans, why are you even part of this conversation?"
"Because James cares about you, and I care about James, so I also care about you by association!"
"Bloody Gryffindors and their savior complexes," muttered the brunette
"No, Nephera, she's right. Just come with us, please," pleaded the Hufflepuff
"I'm sorry, but I can't," she said, turning back to her food, although her appetite was long gone
"I'm honestly starting to believe you were dropped on the head as a child," sighed Tony, tired of the Slytherin's denial
Nephera smirked, "I don't know about dropped, but my mother definitely threw me against the wall a couple of times,"
Ellie threw her hands in the air, "For the love of God," she shouted, the same time as Marlene snorted loudly, revealing that she was listening in on the covnersation
"See," said the brunette, pointing to the girl "Blondie gets it,"
She was very nervous about going home, and all of them trying to convince her to do otherwise was not helping, even though she knew that they were probably right.
However, she wouldn't risk her father storming into the Potter's house, even if it meant enduring his abuse for two weeks. There was also the fact that she was going there per Voldemorts' request, and she had no idea what he wanted with her, but if he thought he could force, or convince her to get the Dark Mark, Lestrange obviously hadn't painted a good enough picture of who Nephera really was.
"Students who are returning home, please head outside to the carriages," said Professor McGonagall, and Nephera immediately grabbed her trunk, which was resting on the ground next to her, and walked out
The Professor had seen the state of the girl when she returned from Christmas and was absolutely horrified. Nephera had long since been one of her favorite students, and she was surprised to see her go back.
"Mrs. Winchester," she called
"Professor?"
"You are going home? For the break?"
"Yes, I am. Why are you asking?"
Minerva knew that she couldn't exactly voice outright that she thought her father was abusing her, so she simply smiled slightly at the brunette "Just, be careful,"
"I will, Minnie, don't worry," she said, mustering up the best smile she could at the moment, and walking away
She was riding the same carriage as Ellie and Tony, the both of them talking incessantly, giving her reason after reason why she should go with them during the holidays, but they all fell on deaf ears.
They finally reached the station, and all her friends immediately surrounded the brunette. She knew they were about to be very angry at what she was about to do, but she knew that if she reached the platform, they'd probably grab her and apparate with her, so she had to do this now.
Taking a step back, she looked at all of them "I'm really sorry about this, but I'll be fine," she sighed, taking out her wand and dissapparating
The six of them were left staring at the spot where the girl was previously standing, completely dumbfounded and caught off guard.
"Of course she did," breathed Ellie, running a hand over her face in frustration
"Come on, my parents will know what to do," said James "Lily! Come here, love, we have to apparate,"
Sirius grabbed Ellie's hand, James took hold of his girlfriend, and Remus side-apparated along with Tony, Peter following close behind.
They all awkwardly landed in the garden of the Potter Estate and stumbled around, trying to stabilize themselves as Peter held Ellie's hair up while she was throwing up in the corner, never having apparated before.
"James, honey, is that you?" said Euphemia Potter, opening the back door of the house
"Yeah, mom, it's us," he sighed, greeting his mother with a hug
The second the woman walked outside, she noticed the children's expressions and then saw that the Slytherin wasn't there. Ignoring the worry pooling in her stomach, she put on a smile and hugged her son tightly.
"And you must be Lily, my Merlin you are beautiful! Why on earth are you with my son?" she tried to joke, and it worked as James let out a small grunt of disapproval
"Hi, Mrs. Potter, thank you so much for having us here," she said dutifully
"Oh, nonsense! The more the merrier, and you must be Tony and Ellie," she exclaimed, and the other two smiled, although it was slightly dimmed "I feel like I already know all of you, James and Sirius have been writing non-stop. Come on inside, we can talk about what's worrying you,"
They all followed her inside the large house, feeling slightly lighter than they did before. Euphemia Potter had a talent for making everyone calm down, even when the situation seemed dire and bleak.
They all sat down in the living room, cups of tea and hot chocolate grasped tightly in their hands, as the older woman took a seat in front of them.
She could tell that Ellie and Tony were taking it the hardest, which was to be expected since they had known Nephera the longest, although Sirius didn't seem much better either.
"Tell me what happened with Nephera," sighed the older Potter
Peter decided to take initiative, seeing as the others were staring at the ground, "She decided to go back to the manor. She was scared her father would show up here if she didn't. We were wandering if you or Monty could go to the ministry, given that her father is a, well, you know," he said, not wanting to utter the words out loud
"Of course we will," reassured the woman, although she doubted the ministry would do much "Is there any way you can contact her?"
"Not really," spoke Ellie "If we try, her father's definitely going to get the letter first,"
Euphemia nodded, and realized that there was little they could do, "James, how about you show everyone to their rooms? I know from experience that a quick nap before lunch always makes everything better. Sirius, love, stay behind,"
The Potter boy nodded, and took hold of Lily's arm, leading them all up to their rooms, ignoring the third bed that was placed in Ellie and Lily's room.
"Sirius, I am saying this in the most gentle way possible, but what on earth possessed you to sneak up on a Death Eater meeting in February?"
The raven-haired boy sighed, and threw his head back, resting it on the couch, "I know, Mia, but Nephera wanted to, and she wouldn't take no for an answer and..." he trailed off
Mia sighed and nodded "We'll talk about this later, preferably when Nephera is here, but for now, how are you?"
"Angry," was the only thing he said
"Are you sure it's just that?" after one year of Sirius living with them, they all knew that there was always more than what he let on
"She just- she always says she's so smart, and then she does this! You saw her at the station that day, and Godric if the rest knew what happened,"
"She told you what happened?"
"It's how we became friends, well, that and the whole research thing, and Mia, I lived in Grimmauld place and even there they didn't..." he let out a shaky breath "I just want her safe," he finished, his voice barely above a whisper
The Gryffindor was more than worried, he was almost frozen with fear, the image of the girl arriving at the station and her describing what her father had done to her echoing in his mind. He didn't know why, but he couldn't even bear to think of Nephera in danger, of her getting hurt, and the only thing he wanted was to storm into the manor and take her away.
Euphemia was growing more worried by the second, wanting nothing more than to get the girl out of that house.
"Look, I may not know her well, but from what you and James have told me, she's a very strong and very smart girl. And I can't tell her she'll get out unharmed, but I can tell you that she'll come out alive,"
Upstairs, Lily was having a very similar conversation with James, who was holding onto her as if she would fly away any second.
"Me and Winchester, we're not friends. But I know that she always has a plan and that she's always two steps ahead. She'll be just fine, you'll see love," she whispered in his ear
"But, why would she do that? Can't she see that we care about her?"
"She did it to keep you all safe, I'm sure that's a concept you're familiar with,"
James nodded slightly, agreeing with her "I think Ellie and Tony are the worst off, and Padfoot too,"
"Are we sure the two are just friends?" asked Lily
At that moment, Tony and Remus walked into the room, "Oh definitely not, we're just waiting for the two to realize it as well," said the Ravenclaw, sitting on the floor with his boyfriend opposite of James's bed
"Which is obviously going to take forever," said Peter, walking into the room with Ellie as well
Lily smiled, happy that her plan had worked and they were now focusing on their happy memories of the girl, instead of them worrying, "Why's it going to take forever?" she asked, continuing the conversation
Ellie snorted "Because we're dealing with two emotionally unavailable purebloods with commitment and trust issues," she said, drawing laughs out of everyone
Over at Winchester manor, the atmosphere was quite different. Nephera had apparated right outside the grounds since the manor had anti-apparition wards all over it. Taking a deep breath, she placed a charm over her suitcase to make it levitate behind her, and started walking, schooling her expression into a disinterested one, despite the fear that was coursing through her.
"I'm here," she announced once she walked into the main area of the house
She heard footsteps, and judging by the heaviness and the stride, they belonged to her father.
"Good to know you you made the rich choice," he said, walking up to her and immediately placing the manacles on her wrists "Lestrange informed us that you were thinking of going back to those bloodtraitors,"
Despite her fathers' words, and the weight of the silencing bracelets on her, she fought off a smirk. The fact that her father had put them on so fast only meant one thing: he was scared of her. And the Slytherin was going to use it to the best of her ability in order to start with step one of her plan, getting the cursed dagger in her room so she could take off the manacles.
"Lestrange will regret saying that," she stated in mock confidence "As will you if I ever catch you talking about them again,"
"Match your mouth," he said, striking her across the face, but she didn't dare give her father the satisfaction of yelling in pain
"So what's it going to be this time? The dagger again?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow, after all, the angrier she made him, the better in this case
Castiel sneered "Not this time, we have been told not to harm you, not too much at least,"
"Pity, I enjoyed it quite much," she commented, letting her father grab her forearm and drag her all the way up to her room
"Well then maybe I leave it in your room then, as a reminder of what happens," he said, flicking his wand and making the dagger's case come whizzing at him
For the second time that day, the brunette fought off a smirk, knowing that her plan had worked.
"Oh, how terrifying," she mused
Her father shoved her into the room, making her stumble a bit as she held onto her trunk, and slammed the doors closed. Nephera could hear him muttering charms, locking the door, and ensuring that only he could open it.
She turned towards the curtains, and, as always they were charmed shut, and no amount of magic could open them. She had never liked them closed, not that she ever had an option, they made the room dark, the artificial light not being the same as the natural one.
She didn't take the manacles off yet, not wanting her father to find out. She knew it was an advantage she had to keep secret until she desperately needed it.
A/N
2.5k words
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