ink - sirius black

violent threats and hangovers

April 24, 1977
7:31 am
Great Hall

Anneliese had stayed up on that tower with Regulus spilling her thoughts and then him doing the same in turn much longer than either of them would care to admit for the sake of their own pride.

By the time that the firewhiskey flask was empty, Black ended up having to help Callaway back to the Gryffindor common room with tear stained cheeks on both his pale skin and her freckles.

Now, Anneliese was having the worst hangover of her life as she walked into the Great Hall, eyes stinging with every bit of light and head threatening to explode with the sudden burst of scents, sounds, and sights.

She slid down on the bench in the space between Remus and Lily and across from James and Sirius, trying her very best to act like she was completely fine and normal.

Which was very hard considering that all of the specks of light bouncing off the suddenly very shiny plates and utensils were threatening to blind her.

"Hey, where were you last night?" Lily asked as she swallowed the last bite of her cereal. "I didn't hear you get back until kinda late."

There was a loud bang from the Slytherin table that made Anneliese and Remus both turn around before she could even process Lily's question.

Anneliese let out a small snort of laughter as she saw that Regulus, equally hungover, had caused a domino effect of knocking over seven pitchers of various drinks and turning all of the Slytherin's breakfasts into apple juice soaked, soggy messes.

Black literally just looked at the mess for a few seconds before burying his head in his forearms on the table and falling asleep in a matter of seconds.

"Uhm, I'm sorry, what?" Anneliese asked Lily as she turned her shoulders back around from the catastrophe. "What'd you ask?"

"I asked why you got back so late last night," Lily repeated slowly. "You good there, A?"

Sirius slowed in his eating as he glanced between the redhead and blonde, actively waiting for an answer as well to this question he hadn't known needed asking.

Anneliese placed both of her hands over her face, rubbing her eyes with her fingertips very forcefully. She instantly regretted this, though, because the borders of her vision turned fuzzy and black from exhaustion.

It took her about ten blinks to get rid of the dark fog, and in the process of those blinks, Callaway completely forgot whatever Lily had just asked her.

"Wait, what did you say?" she asked Evans for the third time in a row, eyes bleary and expression in another solar system.

Dorcas let out a small snort of amusement from a few seats down, while Sirius was just gradually growing more concerned about how Anneliese's usually very sharp hearing had been suddenly dulled.

"She asked why you got back to the dorms so late last night," Remus said helpfully, a tinge of amusement in his tone at Callaway's state.

"Oh," Anneliese replied shortly. "And remind me why you're asking me this in front of everybody?"

Lily blinked a few times in surprise, not having expected this critical response from her friend. It was in no way rude of Callaway, it was just a way that she hadn't acted in quite a long time.

Anneliese immediately registered her tone, and felt a twinge of both annoyance that Lily couldn't just deal with it and regret that she had made someone upset go through her.

You aren't on that tower anymore, she reminded herself. You have to filter how you sound, Anneliese, you can't seem upset for no reason.