Chapter 76.6- Doom Days

And then it began. The sand that had been glassed b my lightning was the first to shift, vibrating and shifting from glass right back to sand. Even the semi-liquid bits turned back to fresh dry white sand. And then came the wall that he had formed— or what remained of it. The black stone dissolved into sand, and the trench my ventus had torn between our positions was slowly filled by the sand. More and more of it flew upwards from the sea, drying itself off and joining the sand already collating at the bottom of the hole until the ground was level again.

Next he stabbed his wand forwards and all the smaller bits— the footsteps I felt in the sand, the remnants of an ice spell I’d called into being at some point, and the corpses of several of his transfigured creatures disappeared inn one go.

“At least Perenelle won’t be mad at us for ruining the beach view this time” I said with a sigh s I looked across the perfect beachscape.

“At least” he said.

I pushed myself to my feet as I noticed Perenelle coming out of the house. Behind her floated a pitcher of fresh juice and a pair of glasses.

“Thank you” I barely managed to say before I began to devour the drink, my throat practically aching for it.

“Has Sirius returned?” I heard Nicholas ask, and kept a keen ear down as Perenelle said no.

“That’s been about five hours now” I cut in.

“Well, it’s not the first time the order is failing to stick to time with their meetings” Nicholas replied.

“I wonder what they’d need so much time to talk about even. It’s not like they ever manage to get anything done, do they?”

“Well, you are the one who chose not to honour either of Albus’ invitations.” Nicholas said.

“What we’re doing here is even more important” I refuted.

“More important to you than killing your dark lord?”

“Voldemort and I will have our date no matter what. My job is just to make sure that when we do, I’m the one who makes it out alive, and working with you is the fastest way to make that happen” I said.

“And I told you Albus is an even greater wizard than I by some margin. His offer for you to teach at Hogwarts and be trained by him was everything you needed and more.” He said.

“Did you want me to abandon you, old man? Is that it?” I asked.

“No. Of course not. It’s just— you know what? Nevermind” he said, picking up his own glass and turning towards the horizon.

“Did the Prophet come in finally?” I asked Perenelle. The issue hadn’t come in yet, and while delays were expected considering how far away we lived, this was beyond the pale.

“Not yet. Maybe whatever news is delaying it has to do with what’s keeping Sirius for so long”

“I hope not.” I said. Because whatever it was, it couldn’t be good news.