Frigus . Sirius Black (Mortem BOOK 2)

chapter eighty-three

December 24th, 1980 - Muggle London 

Christmas did not, by any means, feel like Christmas that year, and although neither Sirius nor Nephera wanted to admit to it, they both sensed it, and they both knew the reason why. 

With Riddle gaining more ground daily, attacks on Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and other wizarding neighbourhoods were all the more frequent, and the body count was rising rapidly. Most people did not leave their heavily warded homes, quitting their jobs even in the midst of the economic crisis the war had caused, after all, what good would their salaries do if they weren't there to spend them?  

Even more so than that, it was not the lack of decorations at Diagon Alley, or pastries from Sugarplum's, or the lack of people in the leaky cauldron, it was the lack of three very specific people that had hit the couple the hardest. James Potter and the Potter family had been the ones to introduce Sirius and Nephera to what Christmas truly felt and looked like, and now, Monty and Mia were both dead and James was in hiding, and they couldn't even do so much as send gifts over, in case the owls got tracked. 

Sirius, especially, had been very excited to use Harry's first Christmas as an excuse to spoil the kid to Merlin and above (Nephera, too, although she'd never admit to it out loud), with Lily's special blend of mulled wine making the rounds between them. 

They had planned for Remus and Peter to come eat at Grimmauld tomorrow, mostly because they had the biggest house, which came equipped with a house elf who could handle the cooking and cleaning afterwards. Peter had declined, preferring to spend Christmas with his mother instead, and none of them could blame him. Nephera already knew that tomorrow would not be festive, not when they were used to large gatherings, filled with noise and laughter. Now, James wouldn't be there, and neither would Lily, nor Harry, nor Alice, Frank, Neville, Marlene, or Dorcas. 

Sirius had come up with the idea that evening, for them to venture into muggle London, despite the danger it would pose for both of them, threats of a potential attack always looming above their heads. Still, the young wizard couldn't stand the atmosphere of Grimmauld any longer, and he needed a break, one which the festive lights of Carnaby Street perfectly provided for them both. 

He slung an arm over Nephera's shoulder, pulling her closer to him as they ventured deeper into the crowds, "You alright?" he asked, noticing her tensing 

"Yeah, yeah, just- Could we move to a side street? Somewhere less crowded," the brunette still wasn't fully comfortable with large crowds, they made potential attacks harder to spot 

Sirius nodded, steering them both to an alley and coming out to a less busy street on the other side, "It's weird, isn't it, how these people have no clue of the war going on," he thought out loud, taking out a cigarette and handing one to his girlfriend 

Nephera shrugged, "Ignorance is bliss, I suppose," 

The wizard's eyes flooded with concern, out of all of them, Nephera was taking James's absence the hardest, especially now that the holidays were in full swing. For days now, she had been passively listening in on what everyone else was talking about, not providing any opinions, only speaking when spoken to, she had even begun to give up the search for what her mother had been doing in Paris. It made sense, considering what she had been through that year, the fact that they couldn't celebrate the end of it with their friends was simply the cherry on top of the cake. 

For her to be showing it so obviously, though... "Listen," he began, pulling her to the side, "I know this sucks, alright, and I know it's tough to see hte bright side, because- well, we're in the middle of a trainwreck heading straight first into a dumpster fire here, but out friends are safe, and so are we. I can't see you like this, my love,"