Frigus . Sirius Black (Mortem BOOK 2)

chapter fifty

December 5th, 1979 - Grimmauld Place 

Nephera was counting down the days until Monday, December 7th, when she would officially be rejoining the Auror Office. Of course, she would only do so under the careful observation of Moody, but that was still better than nothing. She could now freely walk around the wizarding world once more, something that she took full advantage of by visiting some of her old hangouts in Knockturn Alley. Needless to say, her connections in the underground market were stronger than ever, mostly because a lot of the traders and dealers were far too scared to deny her anything she wanted. 

Riddle had been suspiciously quiet ever since she had made her big comeback, and the brunette was certain there was something big coming, what that was, she didn't know. She was certain he knew exactly where she was, Sirius moving back into Grimmauld Place had made the papers after the deaths of Orion and Walburga, but there was nothing he or the Death Eaters could do about that. The protective enchantments around Grimmauld had been set centuries ago, and only strengthened as time went by. She was untouchable, both in the Ministry and at home, his only hope was to catch her outside, but she was cautious and had remained under the radar. 

That day, however, she had bigger issues to concern herself with. Namely, it would be her first visit with the mind therapist the Minister had assigned her. Fan-fucking-tastic. 

"Who is this guy anyway?" asked James, who had stopped by that afternoon after his patrols 

"Healer Boron, sounds suspiciously like moron if you ask me," she snarked, "I had Lily ask around St. Mungo's, apparently, he was the last resort. Get this, his recent study? Interviewing Death Eaters in Azkaban. All other healers denied seeing me. I don't know if I should be proud or offended," 

The curly-haired boy rolled his eyes, "At least give it a try, Nephie. You're forced to go there, can't hurt to talk anyways," he tried, "I'm sure he's good," 

"Mind Healers work by reading the person in front of them, Prongs, if he thinks he'll be the first person to crack me, he's got another thing coming," she rebutted 

James knew this was hopeless. Ever since she was a child, Nephera had been taught that emotions were something that should be kept under lock and key. Her mother had taught her to never show what she was feeling or thinking, to shove it all down even when she was alone. She had trouble talking to them about what she was feeling, let alone a random stranger, "At the very least, try not to scare the bloke away," he sighed in finality 

"I won't, I promise. As soon as he signs this," she waved a piece of parchment around 

"Merlin, please don't tell me-" 

"You can never know who's working with who. As far as I know, this guy's a bloody Death Eater in disguise," 

The Potter boy laughed, shaking his head. To many people, this would seem completely and utterly over-the-top, paranoid, even. But Nephera never took a single step without having already calculated ten steps ahead, and with everything that she'd been through, and the way the world was, he could hardly blame her. 

Not too long after, with James's most recent pep-talk in mind, the witch was apparating to the Mind Healers office, which was in a small wizarding town near Bristol. She landed right outside the tall building, looking around the area. It was quiet, almost too quiet, and there was a shadow cast over the street. Of course, it was December, and so the sunset from the early hours of mid-day. She straightened her back, and pushed the door open, walking to the receptionist. 

Nephera smirked as she clocked in the reaction of the woman behind the desk. The old lady almost dropped her cup of coffee, fumbling with some papers and quills on her desk, "Ms.-"