ink - sirius black

plotting and pain

disclaimer: dont come for my spanish, i used a translator (pls correct me nicely if its wrong so i can edit it)

tw: extreme violence
tw #2: sa

May 31, 1978
9:37 pm
Great Hall

"Anneliese Callaway," McGonagall read after Sirius shook her hand.

There was a pause as she didn't come down the center. After a few more seconds, people started to look back in confusion. A few mutters arose, then small laughs as people assumed she just hadn't heard.

"Anneliese Callaway," McGonagall repeated, tone becoming less emotional and more stern.

Cliff and Violet exchanged a glance, standing in their seats and turned back to look just like the rest of the hall was slowly doing. There was no blonde to be seen, only a redhead waiting her turn next in line.

"She isn't here," Lily said, voice ringing loud and clear. "She just left."

Molly and Andromeda looked at Fabian's empty seat, then to each other. They both knew he wasn't the type of boy to keep her from something as important as her graduation. Something else must be going on here, something they couldn't guess yet.

"What do you mean, left?" Queenie asked, and there were several mutters of the same question and agreement of shared curiosity. "To go where?"

"I don't know," Lily said, frowning. "Fabian was with her."

Sirius's eyes narrowed. He didn't care if he had just made it all the way up to the front, he would search this entire damn castle and miss his graduation if it meant that he could find Anneliese and then figure out what the hell was going on.

The conversation swelled with a tone of annoyance. Why couldn't they just continue the ceremony, especially since it was just one girl?

Tension built as McGonagall leaned in to converse with the other professors.

Sirius was suddenly stopped just as he was about to exit the door by a trio of figures blocking his path. All three of them had the exact same thought at the exact same time to not let Black find Anneliese, not with the expression that he had on his face right now.

"Excuse me," Sirius said firmly, starting to step between them. "I would appreciate it if you let me through."

"Not with that expression, I'm not," Cliff shook his head. "Maybe look like you're not about to kill Anneliese the second you find her, and then I'll move out of the way."

"Excuse me?" Black said, tone sharpening as he raised a threatening brow. "First of all, you barely know me. Second of all, you're exaggerating. Everyone's annoyed right now, so stop making me seem like such a dick."

Only Anneliese could calm down both of them right now, but she wasn't here.

All of the seventh years reentered, only Lily, James, Peter, Remus, Marlene, Dorcas, and Frank left to go down the center of the room, but they didn't seem to mind much as they joined into the intense conversation.

The tone in the room slowly started to escalate as more and more people tried to leave the Great Hall to figure out what was going on instead of just staying put, more arguments and complaints fighting to be heard until the room's high ceilings and wide walls were packed full of hot, angry tension.

"I'm not making you seem like anything you're not," Cliff snapped, and Sirius's eyes widened. "Now, I think you need to-"

There was a sudden slam of the great, carved doors booming shut, causing every word to falter abruptly, no longer an environment full of discord and instead one of fear.