Frigus . Sirius Black (Mortem BOOK 2)

chapter forty-nine

December 1st, 1979 - Malfoy Manor 

Tom Riddle hadn't slept a single wink. The second he had left Diagon Alley- No, the second he had run away from Nephera, he had returned back to Malfoy Manor shutting himself in one of the many chambers of the library. No one had dared interrupt him, but he could feel them lurking outside, unsettled, bearing questions he was unable to answer. 

How was she alive? 

How and since when was the Tenebris wand in her possession? 

What was even more frustrating for him, perhaps, was the fact that he should've figured it out earlier than that, but he hadn't. A ghost leading an army of the undead, that's what the only person left alive from Salem had said, a ghost leading an army of the undead. It was Nephera Winchester that had eliminated the American Chapters, killed over a hundred Death Eaters without anyone realizing, without him realizing. He was certain she was behind Regulus Black's disappearance as well, he was certain she was behind all of the unanswered questions he had over the past few months. 

How was she alive?  

An owl flew to the window, pecking it with its beak and Tom waved his hand absentmindedly, letting it in. It landed in front of him, and for a moment he feared it was bearing a letter from her, but what was tied to its foot was even worse. The Daily Prophet, featuring a huge picture of him dueling the witch, or, to be more accurate, her firing the killing her towards him. With huge letters, underneath the picture, it read: 'Nephera Winchester spotted yesterday in Diagon Alley, shocking the wizarding world who has believed the hero to be dead since June'. 

His anger flared inside of him, tossing the newspaper into the fireplace and watching as the flames enveloped it. Tom Riddle was at a standstill, unsure of what to do as black tendrils of fear wrapped around his heart, rendering him immobile and unable to think. Outside of the room, where his inner circle was gathered, the situation was no better. Bellatrix Black was shrieking in anger, as the most loyal servant of the Dark Lord, she wished to go out and seek the girl personally, wanting to kill her for daring to fire the killing curse upon her Lord, "How dare she?" she yelled, "A blood-traitor of the Highest Order, a Winchester! How dare she?" 

No one responded to her, however, each of them was lost in their own minds. Lucius Malfoy was tapping his fingers against his desk rhythmically, if he knew anything about how Winchester worked and how she thought, it wouldn't be completely crazy to anticipate an attack on Malfoy manor imminently. The girl was smart enough to know what kind of blow she had landed on the Death Eaters, on the Dark Lord himself, she definitely knew how low their defenses were at the moment, she wouldn't hesitate to attack. He exchanged a look with Narcissa, Dolohov, and Yaxley, all three of them thinking the same thing. 

Meanwhile, the younger members of the inner circle, those being Nott, Lestrange, Avery, and Greengrass, who knew Nephera best out of them all, were sitting a ways away from the rest, silencing charm over them as they discussed in hushed voices. Every single one of them had a reason to hate the girl, she had humiliated Lestrange in front of everyone in school for years, she had sent Avery's father to Azkaban, she had used Nott for over a year, playing him like a fool, and she and Ophelia had always had a rivalry brewing between them, "How?" asked Avery, "How is she back? We were all there in June, we all saw her die," 

"The how doesn't matter," spoke Nott, a slight tremble of fear in his voice, "What matters is what we do now. You know we're screwed, royally screwed," 

Lestrange's brow furrowed at his friend, "What? Betray the Dark Lord? Side with the blood traitors?" 

"No," rushed to correct Theo, knowing that suggesting something like that was akin to a death sentence, "But we need to look after ourselves first,"