September 29th – Library

For the past week and a half, Nephera had been holed up in the library, using the excuse that she was studying, trying to find something on whatever the Chamber was that her father had mentioned in his journal. She figured it must've been a room in the castle, possibly underground, but she couldn't find anything about it in any of the books she had read.

For a moment, she thought about going to Dumbledore, he was mentioned in the journal as well, but then she decided against it. It would raise too many questions that she did not want to answer, and there was the possibility of it making its way back to her father, in which case he would certainly not be happy. Plus, something about the old man unnerved her, the way his eyes scanned across the room like he knew much more than she let on.

With Dumbledore not being an option, she then thought about turning to Tony for help, like she always did when she had a problem she couldn't solve, but something stopped her. The things that were mentioned in the journal were dark, and Tony was already under too much stress with being a halfblood and worrying about his parents, the Slytherin didn't want to add to that.

So, there she was, sitting in the library alone, with a stack of books around her, trying to figure out what the Chamber was, where it was located and what it contained.

"Winchester," she heard Remus's voice "Everything okay?"

Nephera snapped her head up and blinked at him before regaining her composure "I feel like I should be asking you that, you look tired."

Remus tensed up at that, still unsure about whether or not the girl knew about his condition or not.

"Just tired, McGonagall's been piling up the homework lately."

"Transfiguration's fine, the real issue is Herbology, I just don't get it," she sighed "My talents lie with other types of herbs."

Remus let out a loud laugh at that, gaining a harsh glare from the librarian's direction "You know, you're actually quite funny when you're not insulting us."

"I don't have an issue with you." She stated, closing the book in front of her "It's mostly the company you keep that annoys me."

"You mean Sirius?"

"Exactly."

"He's not that bad once you get to know him, you know."

Nephera shook her head, not wanting to pursue the conversation further, knowing that she would most likely end up getting angry like she always did whenever the topic of Sirius Black was mentioned.

Remus took the hint and decided to switch the conversation. Tony had asked him to try and get close with the girl, or at least on her good side, and Remus complied knowing how important the Slytherin was to the Ravenclaw.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his eyes shifting through the multiple books in front of him on the table

"History of magic," replied Nephera, not wanting to give him the real reason "I started reading on the Goblin wars and somehow found myself here."

"That happens to me too, sometimes," said Remus, smiling slightly "I just get lost in the books, and then I don't stop until James or something pulls me away from them, literally."

"It's even worse when I'm with Tony, sometimes I feel like he'd be fine just living in the library. Must be the Ravenclaw in him."

The two of them fell into easy conversation, and Nephera was surprised to find herself enjoying the time she spent with the Gryffindor, the same way Remus was surprised to find himself laughing at whatever the girl was saying. Tony had told him she was funny, but Remus had been reluctant to believe it. After all, the only side of Nephera Remus had seen was the cold and ruthless one, sprinkled with a pinch of manipulative tendencies. But now, the way she was sitting in front of him laughing and saying jokes, albeit rather dark ones, it made her seem more human.

"Moony," shouted James, snapping them both out of their conversation

Remus watched as Nephera's face fell and her eyes hardened. In a fraction of a second, the girl had switched from being Tony's friend to being the ruthless "Slytherin Princess" that everyone knew.

"What is it, Potter?" she snapped

"I wasn't talking to you, Winchester," sighed the curly-haired boy "Moony, we have to go, Wormtail needs our help with doing the you-know-what for you-know-who."

"Oh, uh yeah," said Remus, remembering how they had to help their friend ask Mary MacDonald on a date "I'll see you later Winchester."

"Hey," she called out before they left "Call me Nephera, Remus."

The werewolf gave her a genuine smile and a wave, before leaving with James from the library. Nephera didn't know why she had told him to call her by her first name, but she had found herself enjoying the half-hour they had spent talking. She also knew that Tony thought highly of him, the compliments that accidentally escaped his mouth sometimes revealed how deep his affections ran for the werewolf. Nephera trusted Tony, and Tony trusted Remus, and she figured that it wouldn't be long before they come clean about their relationship, and she didn't want Tony to feel as though she didn't like his boyfriend.

"Why would she say that?" asked James once they left the library

"Say what?"

"Tell you to call her by her first name? It was weird." he shuddered for effect

"I found her in the library, we started talking," shrugged the werewolf "She's pretty funny, you know. Reminds me a bit of Sirius in some ways,"

"Merlin, don't let him hear you say that." 

---

October 2nd – Prefect Patrol

Lily Evans was standing in front of her mirror, her hands nervously smoothing over her robes. To say that she was nervous about patrolling with Nephera was an understatement. The girl intimidated her to no end, the way she seemed to switch from cool and collected to angry and threatening terrified the redhead, and the fact that she had to spend two hours with her on that Sunday, roaming around the empty and dark corridors of the castle certainly unnerved her.

"Just hold onto your wand," said Marlene, trying to encourage her friend "Tightly. Hold onto it tightly. And never let go."

"I got this, right?" asked Lily "I mean, she's not just going to hex me out of nowhere,"

Marlene nodded and the girl left the dormitory after bidding Alice goodbye, going to down the stairs only to find three out of the four marauders sitting in their usual places in front of the fireplace, looking tired and on edge.

"Where's Remus?" she asked "He better had a good reason to stick me with that bitch tonight,"

Sirius chuckled darkly "Trust us, he does. And don't worry about Winchester, she isn't going to do anything unless provoked. You know, like a dog in a way,"

"That's rich coming from you Pads," teased Peter

"Whatever, just don't let me catch you outside tonight Black, I don't need to deal with you and her fighting."

Nephera had been waiting for Lily in front of the entrance of the Great Hall, the redhead being ten minutes late. She was starting to regret filling in for Remus, even though she knew the boy had no choice when it came to tonight. Still, the thought of having to spend two hours with Lily's annoying voice wining in her ear was enough to make her want to claw her own ears out.

Hearing footsteps approaching her from the end of the hallway, she turned her head to see the redhead walking towards her, her hand in her robes clutching her wand tightly. Lighting up a cigarette, she started walking towards her, meeting her halfway.

"You're late," she stated

"And you're smoking," replied the Gryffindor

"Once again, Evans, very keen observation." Drawled Nephera, turning away from her "And while it's flattering that you see me as that big of a threat, you feel the need to hold onto your wand constantly, you can let go. I'm not going to hex you or anything."

"How on earth you became a prefect, I'll never know," muttered Lily to herself, but due to the emptiness of the corridors, the Slytherin heard

"I became a prefect because I'm top of our year in most subjects, because I can kick anyone's ass in a duel, and because I'm the only one in this school that can keep Lestrange and his little gang in check," she seethed, turning swiftly towards her "You, on the other hand, are perfectly average. So, the question is, Evans, how on earth did you become a prefect?"

Lily gulped and averted her eyes from the brunette's face, her cheeks flaming up in embracement. She knew the Slytherin was right, Nephera was indeed very bright, and adding her natural talent for combative magic in the mix, there was no question why she was amongst one of the brightest in their year.

The rest of the patrol continued in relative silence between the two girls. They didn't encounter many students, and the ones they did come across ran away after they saw Nephera coming towards them. Luckily, time seemed to pass by fast, and before long, the Gryffindor left to go back to her own dormitory and the Slytherin started her own trek towards the dungeons.

Hearing a howl in the distance, Nephera flinched knowing what, or rather who it was. Hey eyes drifted subconsciously towards the window, but her blood ran cold at what she saw.

Ellie and Tony, sitting by the Black Lake, and a werewolf in the distance.

The Slytherin had never run that fast before, practically flying across the empty corridors as she tried to get outside in time to warn her friends, and prevent the worst-case scenario from happening.

She could feel her heartbeat echo in her ears, her legs moving inhumanly fast as they carried her outside.

"Ellie! Tony!" she shouted, running towards them "You need to get inside!"

"What?" asked Tony, the brunette being too far away from him, making him unable to hear what was going on

At that moment, another howl rang in the atmosphere, as a big black dog ran up to the two teens by the lake, dragging Ellie by the sleeve in the direction of the castle.

The Hufflepuff mistook the dog as aggressive, however, and started to kick at it, trying to get it to let go of her sleeve.

"Ellie! Don't kick- that's-" panted Nephera, still running towards her two friends

Tony heard rustling coming from the direction of the forest, and turned around to see a large stag trying to stop a wolf- no, he realized, a werewolf, from coming closer to them. The wolf, however, had scented humans and was now even more aggressive than usual, knocking the stag on its side and sinking its claws on its back.

Ellie was looking around terrified, not understanding what was happening. Tony, who had an idea of what was going on, was in no better shape. The Hufflepuff and the Ravenclaw wore equal expressions of confusion and terror as the stag stood up, despite its wounded back, and started running after the wolf. The dog stood protectively in front of the two teens, facing the wolf who had slowed down and was stalking towards them predatorily.

James's back was hurting, he could feel the blood running down his legs, but despite that, he kept on running. He couldn't let Moony hurt Ellie, Tony, hell, he was even worried about Nephera, although the way she shot out of the castle yelling at her friends, told him that Remus was right, and the Slytherin knew about his lycanthropy.

Sirius was growing frustrated, Ellie had kicked him rather hard trying to keep him off of her, and now the two idiots were just standing there, staring at the werewolf. And Nephera fucking Winchester was actually running towards it. James was injured, which meant that the burden of keeping Moony away from the three teens fell solely on him.

Peter swiftly jumped off of James' back, scurrying as fast as he could towards the three teens, trying to do anything to make them snap out of their trance and run away from danger.

The marauders, Tony, and Ellie didn't have much in common. But what they did share was the fact that they constantly found themselves in a stump where Nephera was concerned. It seemed as though, every time they learned something new about the girl, three new mysteries emerged. And that is exactly what happened that night, as they saw Nephera run towards her friends, jump up and transform into a panther, placing herself between the two teens and the werewolf.

Someone get them out of here growled the panther, and the rat transformed back into Peter and grabbed Ellie and Tony's hands, dragging them in the direction of the castle.

Since when are you an animangus? Barked the dog

Not the time, Black came another growl from the panther

The wolf was growing more frustrated. He had lost sight of the humans, now only their scent lingered in the area, and there was an unknown predator standing between him and his prey. He placed his ears down, his stance turning aggressive as he prepared to attack the panther.

The dog picked up on that and moved to stand next to the other animal, also lowering his body and preparing to defend itself against an attack.

The wolf tried to move forwards, towards the direction of the castle, but the panther stepped up and growled at him.

All hell broke loose after that.

The wolf snapped his paw forward, the dog flying to the side, before pouncing on the panther.

The panther jumped forward, its claws running over the wolfs' back, just enough to deter him.

Nephera was at a clear disadvantage at that point, she was acting solely defensively, trying not to hurt Remus more than she had to, to keep herself safe, whereas Remus had no control over what the wolf did.

The stag jumped in, trying to help the panther and push the wolf away from the castle and towards the forest.

The wolf jumped on the stag, sinking its teeth onto the animal's neck, causing the dog to take a bite out of the wolf's leg, Sirius trying to keep the werewolf from hurting his friend more.

Nephera too tried to keep the wolf away from James, striking its neck with her paw, making him release his bite.

By that point, the wolf had intensified the panther as the biggest threat and pinned it down using his front legs, scratching down the animal's torso.

The dog jumped on the wolf's back, effectively tearing it away from the panther and turning Moony's attention on itself.

The stag started pushing the wolf with its antlers as the panther tried to regain its footing.

Teeth clashed with each other, claws marking red paths on the fur of all the animals, howls and growls echoing through the empty grounds.

The fight continued that way for a while, tiring the three teens out, although Nephera sensed that blood loss was also part of the reason behind her fatigue.

As the sun had started to come up again, the wolf started to calm down, and the stag was able to push him all the way back to the shack, an injured dog supporting an even more injured panther as the two of them followed after.

A/N

2.6k words

the plot thickens

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