Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter one

September 1st – Hogwarts Express

Nephera walked on the stairs of the Hogwarts Express, holding her trunk in her hand, as she was walking down the long corridor on the way to find her friends in their usual compartment. Her mind was preoccupied as last night's argument with her parents replayed itself before her eyes.

'Nephera, sit, there are matters we need to discuss urgently.'

'Yes, father.' was the only thing the girl replied as she took a seat on the couch opposite of her father and mother

'Last year, you failed to live up to our family's expectations, you are a Winchester, you should know by now that we expect nothing short of perfection, and yet, your class rankings hardly reflect that.'

'I am top of my class in Charms, Defense and Transfiguration, mother, I am afraid I do not know what you mean.'

'What your mother means, is that it is simply unheard of, for a Winchester to be surpassed in her lessons by mere halfbloods and mudbloods.' replied her father, leaning closer 'i do not care if you are first, but you will certainly not be second to any of those abominations that Dumbledore allows to study next to you.'

'Thank Merlin none of the other families managed to get a hold of that list,' exclaimed her mother 'my own daughter, so useless that she was surpassed by mere muggles in class, it would ruin the Winchester name forever.'

Nephera was seething, and she did not know if it was due to the enormous amount of prejudice that underlined the conversation, or because of the pressure her parents were putting on her, or simply because they had managed to insult her multiple times in the five minutes that this conversation had lasted. Nevertheless, she couldn't stop the next words from coming out of her mouth:

'The Winchester name and standing must be pretty fragile if it can be brought down by mere rankings and letters on a piece of parchment, mother.'

Her mother let out a shriek of surprise at the disobedience coming from her daughter, as her father lept forward, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her into the wall behind the couch.

'What did you just say?'

'I said,' grunted the girl, unable to speak properly due to her airway being constricted 'That if you were as powerful as you claim to be, my class rankings wouldn't be a concern.'

Her father's eyes darkened dangerously as he slammed her head on the wall behind her, tightening his grip.

'I am your father, everything you are, everything you have, is because of me. You are nothing but a girl, you are meant to be seen and not heard. I am your father,' he repeated again, tightening his grip even more 'and you will respect me as such.'

'And I am your daughter, and if I'm not mistaken, we gained those titles the same day, father,' the girl almost spat the name out 'And as far as respect goes, you have done nothing to earn mine.'

Not paying attention to where she was going, she collided with another person, falling on the ground and wincing slightly as the injured part of her head collided with the hard floor of the train.

"Winchester, didn't think you'd be so eager to see me," came a voice that she knew too well, and despised equally as much

"I don't reckon you're able to think of anything, Black," she said, her tongue sharp as always as she got up and dusted herself off

The grey-eyed boy opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by the Slytherin before he could.

"Save it, sweetheart, every time you open your mouth I find myself, losing even more brain cells." was the only thing she said before leaving him behind