Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter one hundred and twenty-three

June 9th - Courtyard 

It was a very melodramatic day for each and every seventh year in the school, and the weather seemed to agree. Despite the fact that it was June, a light rain had started to fall, so light that it could barely be felt on one's skin. 

Hogwarts did not have a specific graduation ceremony for its students, but Nephera liked it better that way. The bonfire two nights ago was all they needed, and some sort of formal ceremony would feel too detatched to be considered a proper goodbye to the place they had called home for the past seven years. 

Currently, Nephera and Alice were sitting on the edge of the Black Lake, watching almost hypnotized as the soft rain fell on it's surface, "Do you really think we'll make it?" asked Alice, "We'll see the end of the war?" 

Nephera sighed, not wanting to lie nor wanting to say the truth.Her mind flew back to what Lady Galadriel and the fortuneteller had told her. 

Twenty One falling stars marked your birth. 

The two true snakes and three true lions. 

Loss. 

Heartbreak. 

Betrayal. 

She still hadn't told anyone about this, not wanting to worry them and put more on their plates. Besides, the entire situation did not look too promising, and they did not need to worry even more about her. 

"You will," she replied instead 

And it was true, judging between herself and the rest of the group, it was obvious who had the largest possibilities of survival. 

Alice took note of the phrasing, and frowned, "If someone survives, it'll be all of us Neph. You better not be thinking about all that self-sacrifical bullshit you hate us Gryffindors for," 

The brunette laughed, taking another drag of her cigarette, "Do you believe in life after death? Like, heaven, hell, and all that shit?" 

"I don't know, I like to think it's real, that we don't just stop existing one day," said the Gryffindro truthfully, "But I think that by the time any of us find out, it'll be too late to tell the others," 

Nephera smirked at the dark humor, not used to hearing it come out of Alice's mouth, "Where's Evans and McKinnon?" she asked, switching the conversation to a more positive one 

"Marlene is with Dorcas, and I think Lily's catching up on all the sleep she lost during NEWTs," replied the Gryffindor, "The boys?" 

Nephera smirked, exhaling the smoke, "At the dorm, they're planning to prank me during dinner tonight," she explained, "But I'm not supposed to know about that," 

Alice laughed at how perceptive her friend was, "And you're going to let them?" she asked 

The brunette scoffed, "Of course not, if I know them well enough, they'll go to the house elves in the kitchen and ask them to put something in my drink," she smirked, "Little do they know I've gotten down there first, whatever they give to the elves, the elves are just going to put it in their food instead," 

"Are you sure you're not a seer?" asked Alice, "Because it's getting creepy, very creepy," 

Mischeif glinted in Nephera's eyes, "You sound like Voldemort," she mused 

Alice glared at the brunette, not a fan of her humor and the way she was coping with everything that had been going on in her life. 

All the way up in Gryffindor tower, the four boys were looking at the now empty walls of their dorm nostalgically, "It looks as though we were never here," sighed Sirius, looking around