He could feel his whole body shaking, his skin was clammy. Sirius didn't even have to look in the mirror to know what a mess he was.
He didn't know where his legs were taking him, but he hoped that it was far, far away from the common room and his friends. He could no longer bear the thought of waking them up in the middle of the night.
And he saw the door of an abandoned classroom. It was perfect, a place to hide, where he could cry his heart out and smoke until everything felt better.
The door opened with a creak, making the sinister hallway even more disturbing. Once he was inside, he collapsed against the wooden door.
"I guess that there is no better time to make my presence known." the voice belonged to a woman, but not someone he knew. She was seated on a desk, her legs crossed at her ankles. Her wand was illuminating her enough that he could tell a few things about her.
"You are a prefect and a Hufflepuff." his voice came out as raspy. He hated how breathless he was and he was in no mood to deal with a prefect.
"Yeap." her eyes narrowed, but there was no other indication about her thoughts.
"Just give me detention and dock some points and be gone with this." He let his head rest against the door, closing his eyes in the process. He knew well how things worked. He heard heels clicking against the stone.
"I can see that whatever is haunting you is punishment enough." His eyes opened at her words. He became interested in the woman that was standing in front of him. She was attractive, but he didn't care. He was usually letting his anger out by having sex, and there were more than enough ladies that were going to jump in his bed, but not that night.
"I will give you an offer since I feel nice tonight." she crouched down, enough that she could be at his level and he was impressed by her equilibrium. "I can stay here with you and listen or I can leave. In case that damn cat is bringing Filch here, I will say that you were already punished, or I will say that I haven't seen you here."
"Why? Why would you help me? Why would I even tell you about me?" He could no longer identify what he felt. The relief of being alone vanished, his anger was burning even stronger because of the confusion, while his tiredness made everything harder.
"I take no pleasure when I see others in pain. And because I am a stranger you can tell me anything. No judgement, no expectations, just someone that will only listen."
It took him a few moments before finally agreeing. They formed a game of some sorts, pure honesty and no expectations.
They passed the cigarettes from each other. The woman kept her word, she said nothing when he started to laugh or when he started to cry. She just stood by his side, letting him use her shoulder.
"Better?" he was finally calm when she asked.
"Yes. How did you know?" The witch sighed for the first time.
"Sometimes even a loving and supporting family is limiting us. They want us to be happy even when we just feel the need to bury ourselves in self pity. And in the end, nobody wants to feel as a burden for his loved ones." A few hours passed since they met and he could tell how tired she was. They were lucky, it was Saturday.
"I want to kiss you." The words left his mouth without thinking.
"I have a boyfriend, so please, don't." she stood up, brushing down her skirt and the robe of her uniform.
"Then, a name?"
"Edith."