ink - sirius black

rotary phones and losses

December 19, 1979
4:17 am
Callaway, Anderson, Black, and Lupin Home

Sirius sighed as he absentmindedly stirred his teabag further into the heated water filling his navy mug, watching as the thin swirls of brown infused the liquid all around it.

He knocked the cup over a second later when he saw a stand of Anneliese's hair move from it's position hanging off the side of the couch, a small piece that had fallen from her otherwise tight bun in sleep. The anticipation for her to wake up on her own had been building for so long that he hardly believed it had finally happened.

Black hadn't slept in a day now, having spent all night wondering what her drunk, half asleep words meant.

He rushed over to the couch as Callaway slowly sat up, her eyes stinging and head pounding with the amount of alcohol she had consumed the previous night. Sirius gently gripped her elbows, helping her sit up all the way against the pillows he had placed behind her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, and Anneliese just loosely gestured to the cup of water still resting on the coffee table. "Oh- here you go."

Callaway gripped the cup with both hands, the cool water pure relief as it rolled down her dehydrated, scratching throat that the alcohol had converted it into sandpaper overnight.

Black knew the extreme thirst she was feeling from the amount of times he had drunk as much as she had last night, like even a waterfall pouring onto her tongue would evaporate on contact with the burning heat going through her whole mouth.

Anneliese set the cup down after she finished it's contents, the night slowly coming back to her in gradual waves of dread until she finally reached the moment Sirius had been thinking of.

Just hope he doesn't remember, Callaway thought, mentally crossing her fingers. Hope that he won't bring it up, and then maybe we can just-

Sirius speaking cut her thoughts off, aching skull only able to focus on one thing at once as she still was getting fully back into consciousness. Anneliese had to blink a few times for her ears to stop being fuzzy and really focus on his lips, her hearing to understand his words.

"..feel okay?" Black asked, eyes concerned as they darted all over her face. "You were really drunk. Like really, really drunk."

"Yea, yea I'm fine," Callaway nodded, starting to stand, gripping onto the edge of the couch for support. "I'm fine. Just a little headache. Nothing I can't find something to fix once I get to work- can you start the shower so it can heat up? The hot water's been acting weird-"

"Woah, woah, slow down," Sirius said, stopping in front of her. "You're not going to work yet. You.. you said something last night, Anneliese, and it wasn't good. It wasn't good at all."

"I'm sure I said a lot of things," Callaway said dismissively, shaking her head as she looked up at him before taking another few steps forward. "Didn't you just say how drunk I was-"

"Yes, but this was different," Black said, stopping her again. "You seemed much more scared and afraid that something was going to happen- that we were going to stop trusting you because some guy was making us not, and your sister was going to die-"

"I'm sure I said nothin of the sort," Anneliese said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "You probably just misunderstood-"

"No, I didn't," Sirius retorted. "You said word for word, Please don't let him make you guys not trust me. I don't want my sister to die. How on earth could that have been misunderstood? I'm not stupid, A. You can't talk your way out of this. I am worried about you. Please. Anything I can do to help. Anything at all. It doesn't have to be this. Just let me help you. Fine people don't say that kind of stuff when they're drunk."