Chapter Two;

[Sirius PoV]

"C'mon, Harry, we should be getting back to Hogwarts," Sirius finally said an hour after Remus had left and after he had finished his fourth glass of Firewhiskey. Harry bit his bottom lip, watching Sirius as he stood up to see if he would need help back to the castle. Sirius felt Harry's gaze on him and gave him a smile, "Harry, trust me, it takes a lot more Firewhiskey to get me drunk. I'm really not drunk at all, high-tolerance."

Harry smiled at Sirius and stood up, making his way out the door and following the path from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts with Sirius beside him. They walked in silence the entire way until they reached the front door, stepping inside and looking at one another; they said their good-nights and Sirius pushed Harry off towards Gryffindor common-room. His rooms were in the North Tower, where his classroom was, but he had other plans. He looked down at the muggle watch he had bought in London to match Harry's and saw that it was only about 9 o' clock, which meant Albus was still up.

He walked towards his office and came to the Gargoyle that blocked it. The Gargoyle gave him a glare, "Oh, stop staring at me like that! Lick'O'rish Spiders!" Sirius said in a harsh tone. The Gargoyle didn't move for a moment, making Sirius think he had the wrong password. But when it began moving, he grinned and walked up the stairs that appeared until he reached Albus' office. Upon stepping in, he was greeted by Albus who was sitting at his desk with a quill in hand and marking some papers.

"Sirius, my boy! What brings you here this late?" Albus asked, putting his quill into its bottle and intertwining his fingers and smiling politely at Sirius.

"It's not late, Albus, and I had a question, actually…" Sirius replied as he walked over to Fawkes and began stroking his feathers.

"Ah, very well, my boy. Ask away," Albus said as he watched Sirius closely.

"Right…" Sirius paused, giving a smile at Fawkes, and then taking a seat in a chair in front of Albus' desk.

"Lemon drop?" Albus asked, holding up a small bowl filled with the yellow candies.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "No, I hate those bloody things, you know that," he said, placing his chin into his palm.

"Very well then, continue as to what you were saying," Albus replied, popping one of the candies into his mouth.

"I was curious… about Sni- Severus."

Albus raised an eyebrow, his eyes twinkling madly, "What about him?"

"What did he do all summer? I mean… every Professor took a break, explored around; even I took Harry to France for a week. But as far as I know, he stayed at the castle?" Sirius explained.

"Ah, yes, he did stay at the castle. He does every break, I fear."

"Isn't that odd? Wouldn't he want to be out…? I don't know, with a girlfriend or something?" Sirius hinted, leaning forward slightly.

Albus smiled from over his hands that were resting on his elbows on his desk, "No, no. Severus… ah, how do I put this? He isn't /that/ way."

Sirius blinked in confusion, it took him a minute to actually understand what Albus meant, "You mean… he's gay!" Sirius asked, widening his eyes.

"I never said that, did you hear me say that? I think not," Albus retorted as he stood up, "I'm awfully tired, Sirius, I'll speak with you in the morning," he claimed, walking up the steps that lead to his rooms, "Oh, and Sirius. This conversation… it never happened," he said as he opened his door and gave a smile to Sirius.

Sirius nodded his head, still trying to absorb the information, "Yeah, 'course, Albus," he replied as he stood up and walked out himself.

As Sirius made his way to his chambers, he was lost in thought, 'He can't be gay… well, and maybe he can. Even in school we never saw him with any girls… but we never saw him with any boys either, and how would Albus know he was gay? Unless… he's had a boyfriend?' Sirius debated with himself inside his head, not even noticing as he ran into a dark figure, falling to the ground on his rear, "Ow…" he groaned, looking up to see what he ran into, and to his surprise, it was the star of his thoughts, Severus freaking Snape. His lips formed a smirk.

Severus looked slightly annoyed at him, scowling. "You ran into me you imprudent Gryffindor," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and staring down at Sirius as if Sirius was a low-year attending Hogwarts.

Sirius glared up at Severus, thinking about retorting with something on the information he had just learned, but quickly decided against it, as he still wanted to know more about it. He wasn't sure /why/ he wanted too, but he did. So, he stood up and brushed himself off, giving Severus a smile. "Sorry, Severus, I'll watch where I'm going from now on. Are you excited about the new school year?" he asked, trying to start a casual conversation.

Severus stared at him suspiciously, "Quite, if you call being highly annoyed at the fact that tomorrow this school will be overran with unrefined students and uneducated first-years, then yes. I'm /very/ excited," he said dryly, tapping his foot impatiently as if trying to figure out what Sirius was playing at. "Do not use my name, I am a colleague, not a friend, do not confuse the two, you are Black, I am Snape, understood? Good," Severus said, turning with a swish of his black cloak and stalking off down the corridor.

Sirius tilted his head in confusion, "Oi, fine, Snape! Wait!" he called out.

Severus halted in mid-step, debating on actually turning to acknowledge Sirius. He quickly decided against it and simply answered "Yes, Black?"

"Well…" Sirius paused, trying to think of something on the spot, "Do you want to get a drink? Tomorrow, say after dinner, in my quarters? Just to talk."

Severus tapped his foot, trying to think of why Sirius Black would want him in his chambers for a drink. "Why? What game are you playing at Black?" he asked, now turning around and surprised at not seeing a wand out and pointed at him.

"Just to catch up, talk, I hope to become more than colleagues, Snape, friends, perhaps?" Sirius asked, beaming him a smile.

Severus examined him in silence, it felt like ages until he finally said "Fine, 9 'o clock."

With that, Severus was gone, stalking down the corridor to where Sirius assumed going to his chambers, but there really was no telling with Severus, he shrugged his shoulders and decided to call it a night, walking the rest of the way to his chambers and immediately after entering, falling on his stomach on the couch and going to sleep.