Nightly Excursion (Sawyer)

[Sirius Black]

The hallways were dark and completely deserted because the hour of curfew had long since passed, and most people were trying to get a few hours of sleep before class the next day, when the hallways would contrarily be bustling and crowded with students. As much as Sirius enjoyed the presence of other people, walking about in the empty corridors while most everyone else was in bed was a common habit of his, hell, it was pretty much nightly. He slept whenever he felt tired, which wasn't often considering he was pure energy condensed into human form, and sometimes that was at night (rarely) and sometimes it was during class. He didn't obey a strict sleeping schedule by any means. The school wasn't completely abed, or else why would it be worth staying up? No, there were other fellow night owls wandering about somewhere in the vast castle, and he usually sought their company because wandering got a little boring.

The people, they weren't boring, they were usually fellow rule-breakers, not giving a second thought about curfew and when the darkness fell, they cracked open the alcohol and lit up the cigarettes. That was his crowd, and unfortunately for him the party ended early when Mrs. Norris showed up, meaning Filch was not far behind and they had to scram before he could bust them. Sirius had been in detention countless times before but he would avoid it if he could, and after dodging through a couple of secret passageways he figured he was pretty safe and let his guard down a little. He slipped a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with the tip of his wand as he walked through a hallway, not really sure where he was going, but he would look for something to do so he didn't have to head back to Gryffindor tower just yet.

Sirius had slipped into a secret passageway on the seventh floor that led to the study area on the fourth. During the day he would avoid this place like the plague, as it was more or less the library, which he hated. But he was just passing through now, so it didn't bother him all that much. At the end of the passage he slid the bookshelf out of the way, trying to stay quiet but he was moving a bookshelf so it was easier said than done. When he got through to the other side, his sharp eye caught sight of another figure in the room. He was completely still and silent for a moment before determining that it was a fellow student and that it was safe to keep going through. "Out of bed at this hour?" he said in an falsely accusatory voice, making his way closer to the person and his voice echoing in the eerie silence of the study area.

[Deleted]

It would have been fair to say that Sawyer should have been in bed, the seventh year knew he should have been in bed, but he had already slept enough today to last until the early hours of the morning. Perhaps a nap somewhere between five and seven and he would be good until late morning. He just wanted a break from being the only one awake in the Ravenclaw dormitory. Sawyer pulled his old rucksack onto his shoulder, the seventh year needed something to do, long nights alone were no fun but it seemed that the other eagles preferred roosting to being adventurous for once- they were no Gryffindors.

Sawyer preferred being out on the grounds at night there were very few teachers that patrolled out there, getting there was the problem. Instead the Ravenclaw would have to settle for one of the rooms in the castle, the study area on the fourth floor was rarely checked out of all the places for a student to lurk that wouldn’t be one of them. Sawyer was pretty sure the only other people that he might meet there would be a fellow Eagle and although he didn’t talk to many of them they wouldn’t give him any trouble.

There was a fair amount of books for lessons, not as good at the library but Sawyer thought it was easier to be found there. He had gotten down to the study room pretty swiftly thinking that no one had spotted him he slung his rucksack off and placed it on one of the tables, opening it he reached in and brought out his newest Defence Against the Dark Arts book. The book had only been released a few weeks ago and Sawyer hand managed to get his hand on it, it certainly wasn’t required reading and some of the curses were too advanced for most student. Sawyer laid his wand on the table and opened the book.

His headed lifted up quickly at the sound of a voice. Her narrowed his eyes to try and pick out the darkened figure. “Looks like I’m not the only one.” Sawyer replied letting his hazel eyes look down to the book again, the voice sounded familiar and if it really was the boy he thought it was he didn’t want to cause any trouble with him. Even Muggleborns knew about the wizarding families to avoid.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius made his way through the darkened study area where the other student was sitting and he was able to decipher a face. It was a familiar one, belonging to a Ravenclaw who, despite being in the same year as Sirius, he didn't think he'd ever spoken to, except for maybe once or twice in a shared class on those rare days where Sirius actually showed up. Or maybe times such as these, where they crossed paths when mutually out after curfew; for some reason, he thought he'd seen the other out and about on nights not too unlike this one. "Hardly," Sirius said when he mentioned not being the only one. As he spoke Sirius pulled up a seat across from him, inviting himself to join the other seventh year at his table. He had nowhere to go, no one to see, and he sure as hell wasn't going back to Gryffindor Tower just yet, so he might as well stick around for a little bit at least.

The name was still evading him, though he was quite sure he knew the face. Sirius looked at him silently for another couple of seconds as if he'd suddenly remember his name, which was unlikely considering his memory for names was weak at best. His eyes fell on the book on the table, and now that became his primary point of interest, as he pulled it over to him without asking and examined it closer. Spells, curses... it was defense against the dark arts, but he didn't think it was one they needed for class, but he couldn't be sure because he rarely even opened their class books. Either way, it looked boring. He looked up from the pages, giving him a skeptical look. "This is the reason you're up...? he said, the question sounding a little unfinished because where he would put a name, he couldn't find one. His voice sounded unimpressed with his reasoning for being up; to read? What is more, to read academically? But it was a Ravenclaw he was dealing with, so it shouldn't surprise him.

Which Ravenclaw was the question, and Sirius was still working on the answer. Don't tell me," he said, referencing to how he'd trailed off earlier in absence of a name. He inhaled deeply on his cigarette as he thought, turning his head slightly so as not to breathe smoke into the other's face. For some reason he was stuck on the letter H, convinced that had something to do with it. Howard, maybe? But he felt like if he heard it or thought of it, he'd know, and that wasn't it. He knew enough about himself to know that he had a hard time putting names to faces, and decided that it wasn't worth the effort. "I give up," he said finally, waiting for the name that he was unable to produce from his own memory.