Frigus . Sirius Black (Mortem BOOK 2)

chapter sixty-six

April 21st, 1980 - Grimmauld Place

Dumbledore, Moody, the marauders, and the rest of their group had all been gathered in Grimmauld Place for the past ten hours, trying to figure out what to do. They had barely made any ground, though, in fact, most of the time was spent in silence, with the occasional fighting and crying that took place for a few minutes before they all settled down and plunged deep into their own minds once more.

Marlene had taken Dorcas home, the witch was in shock, plain and simple, and she wasn't responding to anything they were asking her. Her girlfriend intervened when Sirius started yelling another time and had taken her home to get some sleep.

Lily and Alice, who hadn't been on the scene, had questions of their own, the latter, especially, who was closer to Nephera, was leaning onto Frank for support, barely able to keep herself upright, "So she didn't recognise your voice?" she asked

Sirius shook his head, his eyes glassy, and unfocused as he stared at the wall in front of him. He couldn't look anywhere else, everywhere in the room there were reminders of her. Crystals, books, photographs, the hammock, even Crookshanks was walking around uneasily, probably sensing the tension in the room.

"Mr. Black, I understand that-" started Dumbledore, but stopped once Sirius lifted his eyes to meet his

The boy didn't yell, didn't even move or raise his voice from his place in the armchair, "What do you want me to say?" he asked, his voice deadly calm, "What more can I say? She doesn't remember me," he couldn't help the shiver that came up his spine at the admission, "She didn't recognise my voice, she didn't remember about the bracelet, or how I could speak to her. She doesn't remember me,"

His voice cracked, and he swallowed harshly, "Her mental shields are up, none of us can reach her through the bracelet anymore,"

James took over, knowing Sirius was dangerously close to breaking and knowing how much his brother would hate crying in front of all of them, "What does he- What does he want to do with her?" he asked, "I thought he was done playing games, I thought he just wanted her... why this? Why now?"

Moody took point in this, "Voldemort wanted Nephera dead as soon as he realized she was a threat. But before that, he had tried too many times to get her to join, he knew she was an integral part to winning this war, and that she could benefit him just as much as she could hurt him,"

Madeye locked eyes with Dumbledore, both of them understanding something the young adults in front of them couldn't. It was very possible that Nephera was now against them, it was very possible that at some point, they would have to fight her. And if it came down to that, Merlin help them all.

He continued what he was saying, ignoring the slight tremble in his hands, "I don't doubt it was her father that helped him come up with it. It's something she herself would've come up with, and those two are cut off from the same cloth, as much as I hate to admit it,"

Peter shook his head, "But this is Nephera we're talking about. She's not just going to believe anything, she'll question it," he asserted

Peter was shaking in his spot as he was leaning against the bookshelf. He had caught on to the look shared between Dumbledore and Moody, he knew what it meant. Nephera Winchester was not someone any person wanted as an enemy, he had seen first hand how sadistic she could get, and it terrified him to his core.

Dumbledore shook his head, "Tom has always been very manipulative, he rivals Ms Winchester to that extent," he explained, "He plans meticulously, any question she might've asked, he would've already thought of and answered before she even asked it. Coupled with the fact that we're not sure of which memories he kept, which he erased, who she remembers and who she doesn't-"