ink - sirius black

bitterness and two angry americans

May 29, 1977
7:29 am
Great Hall

Anneliese was sitting at the very end of the Gryffindor table next to Remus, the two of them silent as they simultaneously ate and crammed for their Potions N.E.W.T. later that morning.

Lupin and Callaway had made it successfully through the week only because of Leo, whose letters they were both heavily relying on to stay sane and grounded.

The dust of the night of the party had finally settled a few days later once everyone got a hold of their emotions, and nearly the entire school was confused of what had happened to the previously inseparable sixth year Gryffindors.

Dorcas and Marlene were really only talking to each other and Frank occasionally when he wasn't with Alice, who refused to even look at Meadowes and Mckinnon.

Lily, Peter, and Sirius had formed their own small trio of feeling deeply guilty themselves but knowing that none of them were better or above the others and they might as well just get through this last week together.

As for James, well, he was starting to get a feel of how it must be like to be Snape.

Potter selfishly wished that Lily would just yell at him already and stop looking at him like that, but her looking at him at all was at least more than he could say for Sirius.

Black hadn't even spared James a glance in his direction, and essentially, Potter didn't even exist to all of them besides the occasional biting, passive aggressive comment or threatening, defensive glares when he so much as looked at Anneliese.

This whole thing was too reminiscent to the Marauders of when Sirius had told Snape how to get under the tunnel of the Whomping Willow that led to the Shack during a full moon in their fifth year.

It had taken a solid two months of desperate favors and lonely nights for Black to earn back Remus, James, and Peter's friendship after what he had done, and even longer to win back their trust.

Even though everyone else was glad that the summer was nearing so they could all finally have a break from each other after the chaotic and confusing and catastrophic year, James wished that all this had happened in January.

That way, they would all shun him for as long as they needed and then slowly forgive while at school and with constant, tiny changes in their expressions that Potter could track. But over the summer, James had no way of contacting them in a way that they couldn't easily ignore, no way of making amends.

Remus looked down the table to see Potter staring at his cereal desolately, like even the task of scooping up the milk and little chocolate puffs was too much for him to handle right then.

Dorcas and Marlene were a few seats down from him, and then Alice and Frank another few. It was all quite the contrast to the previously tightly knit bunch they used to sit in, soaking their food in hot sauce and making threats about ice cubes as razor blades.

Sirius, Lily, and Peter were about halfway down the table, Black and Pettigrew on one side with Evans across from them. They were talking in low tones about something no one else could hear, and weren't sure if they wanted to know either.

Unwillingly to him and unknown to James so that Potter would keep thinking that Sirius wasn't doing so much as looking at him, Black's grey eyes would very rarely flick to James.

But then every time he regretted it.

All he could see when he looked at Potter was his expression when he had Anneliese pinned against the short wall of the astronomy tower, her face terrified and his cold and vengeful towards her and Sirius more angry than he could have ever imagined he could be at James.