Frigus . Sirius Black (Mortem BOOK 2)

chapter sixty-four

note: i'm not even going to say anything, you should know what this means by now 

i'd ask you to refrain from threatening to cause bodily harm towards me, but I don't think I have that right after what i'm about to do here : ) 

April 20th, 1980 - Order Safe House 

After Riddle had tried to turn Remus into his own personal spy for the Order, Order missions had turned into need-to-know operations, despite Riddle having made no other attempts to get a spy within their ranks. This explained why, this time around, it was only Nephera, Dorcas, and the Prewetts in the shabby cottage in the mountains, waiting for Dumbledore, "Where is that blasted idiot? Doesn't he know we don't have all day to hang around here?" asked Nephera, kicking her feet on the wobbling table in front of her 

"Too busy running away from the Minister's guard, Winchester? It's not like you've got a job to go back to," laughed Fabian, looking uncharacteristically calm as he flipped his wand in his hand 

His twin shoved his shoulder, causing the eldest of the two to send a glare his way as he dropped his wand to the ground, "Don't listen to him, Neph, he's just happy he's not stuck patrolling again," explained Gideon 

Dorcas interrupted them, "Anyone know what this is about?" she asked, mainly the other witch in the room 

"No clue," shrugged the brunette, "No one in Knockturn's informed me of any recent Death Eater moves, so my best guess it that it's probably routine, especially if they only need four of us," 

"Black not losing his mind over him not going where you're going?" teased Fabian again 

Nephera rolled her eyes, recognising the joke in his tone. Besides, they all knew that 'need-to-know' did not extend to Nephera's close circle, that had been obvious from the very beginning, "Black loses his mind over everything I do lately," she snapped back 

Not that she could blame him, of course. Sure, being reminded to eat, and sleep, and drink water, and take breaks did get annoying after a certain point, but she couldn't blame him. Now that she couldn't work anymore, the only thing she could focus on was the Horcrux hunt, and even she could recognise that she had become slightly obsessive over the whole deal. 

The distinct crack of apparition echoed from outside the cabin, and the relaxed atmosphere immediately turned tense with the arrival of Dumbledore, who wasted no time telling what the mission was as soon as he got into the room, "Ms. Meadowes, Mr. Prewett and Prewett," he nodded, "Winchester," 

"I sense hostility," bit back Nephera, her characteristic smirk on her face, "What's on the roster for today, Dumbles?" 

He took a deep breath in at the use of the nickname, which was nothing but yet another way for the girl to undermine his authority. Dumbledore was a smart man, though, and he knew how to read a room, and he knew without a doubt that the people in that room were not his supporters, but Nephera's. So, he refrained from commenting on it, "Hogsmeade, last night," he explained, and they all sat straighter once they heard the name of the village so close to their old school, "No one dead, but a few injured. My best guess is they were scoping the area, for what, I don't know," 

Nephera took over for him, "You think they're planning to attack Hogwarts, and they want to start from Hogsmeade," a breath escaped through her nose, "We'll scope the area out, see if anything's out of place," 

"I want you reporting back to me at Hogwarts once you're done, barring you, Winchester, of course. I can't be seen harbouring a national criminal," 

"Oh, yes, I'm sure that's the only reason," she snarked back, standing up