Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter seventy-five

October 27th - Great Hall 

Sirius was on his way to dinner that night, walking alone since Slughorn had stopped him just minutes before in order to scold him yet again for his uniform. In his seven years of school, the raven-haired boy had refused to wear his uniform properly, his tie always too loose and his shirt always slightly untucked. 

The eldest of the Black brothers had been floating through the past few days, life had been unusually good. He was slowly starting to rebuild his relationship with Regulus, Nephera wasn't in any form of immediate danger, well, there were four people aiming to kill her, but by that point, that was just the usual. 

He wasn't paying attention as he was walking, too caught up with thinking about what the rest of the marauders had told him, concerning Nephera. He didn't want to disrupt what they had going on, for it was a very good thing, but at the same time, guys were taking more interest in her than ever before. Apparently, coming back from the dead and outsmarting the Dark Lord for a second time was a huge turn-on for some people in Hogwarts. 

Not paying attention to where he was walking, he felt another body collide with his. Opening his mouth to apologize hastily, he looked around only to find that that person was already turning the corner, and was too far away for him to see who he was. What he did see, however, was a piece of parchment sticking out of his robe pocket. Not remembering what it was, he took it out and opened it as he continued walking. 

Mulciber's imperioed one of the elves in the kitchen, he's having it place poison in Nephera's cup during dinner tonight. Find a way to stop her from drinking it discreetly, and without alerting anyone that you know about it. They'll be watching like haws. 

-R.A.B

The boy's face paled as he ran the rest of the way there, only stopping right before he reached the doors to calm his breathing. Regulus was right, he couldn't go in there guns blazing because then they'd know someone warmed him, and since Regulus was the only one not at dinner that night, all suspicion would fall on him. 

Walking as casually and nonchalantly as he could inside, he saw Nephera eating and arguing with Remus and Lily, probably about some topic that no one but them understood. 

"Look, all I'm saying, is that Gryffindors have just as much a chance of going all 'dark side' as Slytherins do," said the brunette, earning gasps from the two Gryffindors in front of her, "No, no, listen," 

"Gryffindors are-" started Lily, but Nephera silenced her with one look, not liking when other people interrupted her 

"Listen," she repeated, "Courage doesn't always refer to doing the right thing and fighting against what's wrong. Sometimes, it refers to being brave enough to betray your friends, or do what's best for you and not for the rest of the world," 

Remus's eyes widened as he tried to figure out a response, "Yes, but ambition and cunning are far easier to flip and turn evil than bravery," 

"Maybe," mused the girl, grabbing the cup in front of her, "But-" she was cut off by Sirius running u to her and essentially smashing his lips on hers, taking her completely by surprise 

She didn't object, however, and kissed him back just as eagerly, ignoring James's and Marlene's wolf-whistling. 

Pulling away, she noticed Sirius's hand slightly inch towards his pocket and discreetly wave his wand, muttering a quick "Evanseco," and cleaning out the contents of her cup 

Not giving her a chance to ask about it, he smiled widely at her, trying to adhere to Regulus's orders of making everything seem normal, "Do not react to anything, act casual." this got the attention of all the marauders and their affiliations as they too turned their attention to the raven-haired boy and tried to act nonchalant. "Mulciber imperioed an elf in the kitchen, there was poison in that cup,"