AN: Hurrah! The semester is finally over! I will definitely be putting more time into this little story. So far, it's mostly exposition and setting up the AU, but hold on to your kittens, stuff will happen.

Chapter 6

Logical Thinking

Severus narrowed his eyes at the closed wooden door as he tried to comprehend the events that transpired in the room after Professor McGonagall's arrival. Had she really let him off scot-free when he clearly had a go at Sirius Black's face? Severus exhaled nosily. Apparently, she had. Shifting his bag, he turned to face the direction of the shifting staircase and began the trek to them. Professor McGonagall is angry. At Sirius Black, that is.

Sirius Orion Black was considered by many to be the embodiment of what many believed to be the heart of Gryffindor. He was outgoing, charismatic and so terribly brave - reckless, in Severus' opinion. He livened up - disrupted - classes and made girls swoon with a wink and flash of teeth. He was never one to back down from a challenge regardless of the trouble he might get himself and his friends into. How ironic must it be then that Sirius Orion Black was the scion of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black - a family considered by many to entertain more than passing fancy in what many believed to be Dark Arts. The boy seemed to be trying hard to distance himself from that image by going on a vendetta against the Slytherin populace of the school. Or maybe it was not so hard for him? The pranks he and his friends played were not exactly nice, and Severus knew the boy could turn on the charm and lie through his teeth to manipulate people to his advantage. Severus had always found it quite grating that Sirius Black, of all people, had the nerve to vilify the students in Slytherin for being sorted into Slytherin when he, Sirius Black, was born and raised in a family considered by many to entertain more than passing fancy in what many believed to be Dark Arts.

Blood is always thicker than water.

Severus hopped down the stairs, taking two at a time.

Professor McGonagall was angry. Her golden pupil had pulled yet another prank, but this time the damage radius was not small. The prank could not be fixed by sending the afflicted to the infirmary and forcing the boy to give an apology, no matter how half-hearted. This stunt required more effort and anything that required effort was not amusing. By letting the Slytherin go, Professor McGonagall was simply expressing her dissatisfaction with her house members. Not that I should be complaining.

Severus was out of breath by the time he got to the dungeons. Looking around, he found no trace of the prank that Sirius Black proudly claimed he did. The teachers had worked quickly. He continued walking deeper into the dungeons until finally he stopped and turned to an empty brick wall.

Leaning close, he whispered, "Veritas."

The bricks shimmered and pulled away from each other, revealing a door that was the entrance to the Slytherin dormitories. Severus pushed open the black door and stepped directly into the common-room. Apart from a few first years who were huddled and excitedly whispering over a very large tome, the room was empty. Without attracting the attention of the first years, Severus headed left towards the boy's dormitory. Severus had always found the Slytherin dormitory interesting. Being in the dungeons, everything in the Slytherin area was found on one level. If one mapped it out, the rooms were arranged in a half circle with the common-room being in the center. From the center, there were two main corridors branching out. These led off into the boys' and girls' dorms. the main corridor for each side was split into many paths on either that led to the rooms for students. Traditionally, the rooms closest to the common-room belonged to the first years, the rooms after those were filled belonged to the second years, and so on. The capacity of the rooms that the castle spawned varied. Some rooms could only fit once person while the maximum seemed to be three. Every year the number of rooms either increased or decreased depending on the number of students. However, it seemed as if the rooms are only added to the back of the half circle. Once, in Severus' second year, Hogwarts had accepted a sixth year transfer student from Durmstrang and had dumped the student in Slytherin. The castle had increased the number of rooms by one, and as a result the two upper years had flown into chaos when students had woke up in bed in a different position and rooms that were not their own. The castle had shifted the occupants of the seventh year section and partially the sixth year section down by one space.

"How'd it go?"

Severus jumped. He scrambled for his wand. Scanning the room he shared with Martus Avery and Brendon Goyle for the source of the voice, his eyes fell upon the figure sitting in the middle of his bed.

"What the hell, Regulus!"

Severus huffed and stepped deeper into the room. He dropped his bag on the ground at the foot of his bed and yanked off his school robes. Aware of the younger Black's eyes on him, he trudged to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. He turned on the faucet and splashed his face with the cool water. Severus stared at his reflection, noting the small black dots speckling the tip of his nose. Geez. Severus loosened his tie and went over to his laundry hamper. He selected a fairly clean and well-worn t-shirt and his pajama pants. Shedding the Hogwarts uniform, he pulled and tugged on his selections and exited the shared bathroom. Severus was not surprised to find Regulus still perched on his bed. However, he chose to ignore the blue-eyed boy for as long as he could.

Severus crawled onto his bed, roughly shoving Regulus to the side in the process. He lay on his back and covered his eyes with one arm. Silence filled the room with a rustling that sounded whenever Regulus shifted a bit on the bed. Severus was tired and wanted nothing more than to drift off into sleep, but he was finding it extremely difficult to do so with someone strange in the room - on his bed, really. He could feel the other's eyes boring into his skin.

"Ahem," Regulus cleared his throat. "I asked how it went."

Severus debated answering for a moment. What is the deal with Regulus?

"I smashed your brother's face in."

"Oh. Good."