Nadia
It was late when I left James finally, nearly midnight. Lily and Harry had slept long back. James promised to get some sleep but I doubt if he will. It is not fear, it is the lack of action that keeps him awake. He longs to be outside with us.. The night air was crisp and pleasant as I walked back to my bachelors house just a few blocks away in Godric's Hollow. I had taken rent here for the past several months on Dumbledore's orders. When I reached the door, unfortunately, I found it to be open unsurprisingly. I sighed ! I stepped in boldly and closed the door only to find a slim fair hand pointing a 12 inch long ebony wood wand at me. At the distance I could see the dragon eyelash core poking out of the back. "Nadia ! I said, if it really is a death-eater you would have been dead by now. Why do you have to keep the door open ?, and they call me rash". " I saw you coming from the window", said a sweet voice, light and mellow, laughter inflecting in every syllable. I could not help but look at her. She was tall, dark and with a face to die for. Her dark languorous eyes danced with mirth in their sockets. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore a dark midnight-blue robe. That she was an aristocrat was obvious, but she was also related to my mother's cousin who hated me. I wonder how many people knew. I wished she would leave me alone. My life was too complicated as it is, without a woman in it. Yet she loved me, loved me with a passion beyond reason.
As I stepped into the threshold of the luxurious living room, she lowered her wand, but kept her eyes on me. I sank into the leather couch and sighed. I heard the clink of tea cups and soon I had a steaming cup of Chamomile in front of me. I muttered a hasty thanks and sipped silently. It was wonderfully soothing and helped calm my troubled mind. "You might not be wrong about your fears after all, .. " she murmured as she sat on a low ottoman near me, sipping her pot. Her delicately manicured fingernails traced the pattern of blue fish on the tea-cup as she spoke, her eyes looking into the tea-cup, her thoughts far away. " What do you mean?" I frowned. " It means, you lazy dog, that I have been following Wormy for the last three weeks and I can tell you that he is upto no good". "Well, what did you find exactly ?" I asked bemused. "Are you sure you want to hear it ? I don't want you tearing this place down, once you hear about it, in fact I have been debating telling you about it at all. I might have as well killed Wormy on the spot a few hours ago, when he was walking alone, or rather rolling, drunk in rapture… " . My eyes blazed with fear, but I pretended calm, and said instead " Why don't you tell me about it and I will see if the information is worth anything before I fall asleep on your rather exquisite couch". In a flash, she had swirled around, her dark eyes flashing in anger. She looked murderously beautiful this way, and it is the way I liked her. No, like is not the right word, I was enraptured, I was besotted, I loved her, and yet I wanted to stay away from her. Involving her would mean danger to her, but it was probably already too late and she wouldn't listen anyway. So I sighed again. Her eyes softened as she looked at my face and a soft almost wistful look stole into her eyes. My eyes locked into hers at that moment and for a few minutes we stared lost in our own thoughts which were probably in the same dream. When all the danger was past, we could have a life together. She was the only one who could understand my ruling passions, my disregard for danger, for she had it too did she not ?. But back to the matter at hand , "Wormy, wormy…. " I murmured angrily. "I saw Wormy with Scarlet yesterday, they were at the movies". "Scarlet ? Scarlet Nott ?" I asked in disbelief ! "Yes indeed…" Scarlett Nott was the twin sister of the death eater Nott. She looked exactly like him with her pale hair and deep sunken eyes. She was an abusive alcoholic and unstable person, the last kind of person anyone would want to hang out with. Nadia rolled her eyes and said " and here I am begging for a simple dinner date for the last three years. I feel I deserve better Sirius ". She looked mournful for a moment and my heart melted. "You do deserve better, Nadia..", I replied softly. "The same old answer, Sirius, it is not smart anymore". I sighed, trying to ignore the plea in her voice. I had to think clearly now. "If Wormy is seeing Scarlett, there is something weird going on here. Nott is one of the most ruthless creatures around Voldemort and is definitely in the inner circle." Fear rose in the pit of my stomach. My skin crawled with a sensation akin to a premonition so deep rooted in my thoughts, it must have shown on my face. " What do we do now ?" I asked. Nadia did not speak. But I know what she would say " let us get rid of anything we have a doubt about". I could not, Wormy, worthless though he was, was a secret keeper to the Potters and he needed to be safe. It was my idea, mine… to make him the secret keeper. Worthless Peter, but now in the company of Nott's sister. Ye Gods ! I sunk my hands into my face and clutched my hair in agony.
"Go to sleep, Sirius" said Nadia. "You can use my couch. We cannot do anything now. Let us work on this tomorrow". I did not have the energy to argue. I rolled back onto her couch and curled up. I was fast asleep within minutes. I vaguely felt a warm plush blanket thrown over me and I sensed her run her hand over my hair before walking away to her room. I fell into a restless sleep, tossing about and worrying about the mystery that was Wormtail. What was the danger to Wormy ? Could they harm him to get information about the resistance ? Could they possibly know ?