Mortem . Sirius Black

chapter three

September 2nd – Transfiguration

Sirius had woken up late and awfully hungover, the body of a random redhead next to him being the only thing that reminded him of what had happened last night, even though the details were still blurry. Careful not to wake the girl up, not wanting to deal with the awkward morning-after conversation that always ensued, he got out of bed and got dressed, walking up to the desk in the room to grab a cigarette.

On top of the desk, he found his timetable, presumably left there by James who was always the first one to wake up, no matter how late he had stayed up the night before. Looking at the timetable, he saw that he had potions as his first class, his mood worsening even more as he realized that he would have to deal with McGonagall's questioning about his whereabouts. He actually had to refrain from slamming his head against the wall when he saw that he shared the class with the Slytherins. In fact, he shared most of his classes with the Slytherins, apparently, Dumbledore had been trying to ease the tension between the two houses by placing them together in as many classes as possible.

Walking down the corridor, he paused for a second before opening the door to the transfiguration classroom, knowing that McGonagall was not going to be happy with him being thirty minutes late to the first class of the year.

"Mr. Black. Late. Again." She stated, emphasizing her words with brief pauses in the middle and pinning him under her stare

"I'm sorry, Professor, I overslept. Won't happen again," he sighed "I'll see you at your office tonight for detention then?"

"Indeed, Mr. Black. See you tonight." 

Sirius nodded in thanks as he sat down next to James, placing a hand on his brow bone to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight coming in from the windows. McGonagall started talking about what they would be learning that year, but the Gryffindor was sure that no one was listening. Judging by the state of everyone's clothes and dark circles, they too had attended the party, and as a result, were sitting in class with a terrible hungover and extreme sleep deprivation.

The door opened, distracting the Professor once again from her lecture.

"Good morning Professor." Came the surprisingly steady voice of Nephera Winchester

Just like everyone else, Nephera had woken up that morning on one of the couches in the room of requirement and had to rush down to the dungeons in order to shower and get ready for the day. Yet, unlike everyone else, the girl seemed to be more awake and alert than ever, her uniform perfectly placed on her frame and her hair evenly combed down, reaching her shoulders.

"Mrs. Winchester, I'm assuming you're the reason behind everyone's tardiness today?"

"I apologize, Professor, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

Is she kidding? Thought Sirius She doesn't actually think she can talk her way out of this?

"So why were you late then? If you have no idea what I'm talking about?" asked the professor, raising an accusatory eyebrow towards the girl

Nephera put on her most innocent smile and looked up at the teacher "Well, you see, Professor, I'm a prefect. And as a prefect, it is my duty to help students around the school, so when I saw a group of first-years getting lost on their way to Potions, I had to help them. You understand, don't you?"

"Very well, Mrs. Winchester, please take a seat."

Oh for fuck's sake thought Sirius, sending a bitter glare towards the girl, wondering how she managed to get away with being late to class whereas he didn't.