Chapter 2
The nervous chatter ceased as Madam Magpie stood from where she had conjured a chair and moved next to the podium that would usually be used by the Headmaster to give speeches. Sirius watched as a sea of whispers started up as the woman took a small rolled up parchment from her robe, setting it on the podium next to what looked like an enchanted self-writing quill.
She clapped her hands, gaining the attention of those that weren't watching and said, “Now that you’ve had time to process I'd like to explain how this will work.” The students straightened up, the general atmosphere taking on a nervous tinge. “I’ll be the one conducting the proceedings. The sorting of the first-years will take place first as per standard, it’ll be akin to an example. There will be no such thing as a hatstall. The rest of the school will be sorted next by house and then by year. We’ll be going from left to right, so we’ll be starting at Ravenclaw and then ending with Gryffindor,” she explained clearly.
Finishing that tidbit of information she angled her body back to the podium and patted the scroll she had placed earlier. “This parchment will self-document all the students who do get re-sorted during this process. If that were to happen to you all you’d need to do is come up here to tap the quill I have placed with your wand and then you can be off to sit down with your new house. Are there any questions?” she asked. Edgar Bones from Hufflepuff put his hand up, a confused but curious look on his face.
Madam Magpie gestured towards Bones and raised an eyebrow patiently. “The parchment and quill. Why do you need to record the sorting, and why do you need us to tap the quill with our wand?” he questioned, his fellow Hufflepuffs giving him surprised looks at the questions. Madam Magpie gave an amused huff before schooling her face into a mask of indifference. “It's a valid question, I would have told you later but this gives me an excuse to do it now,” she smiled wryly.
“The parchment has an enchantment that would send off pre-written missives to the parents of the child that got re-sorted. Essentially there will be a meeting between parent, child, Head of House and myself concerning the situation and the future sometime tomorrow, the student will of course be notified of the time at breakfast. The most likely cause of students going to a certain house is because of family, I would hope that this will avoid any backlashes that the child will get if that truly is the case,” she intoned carefully, observing the reactions.
Frankly, Sirius was starting to feel a bit ill the more the Ministry employee talked. What would be the chances of suddenly getting sick? Maybe he'd be able to avoid the sorting entirely then? He snorts a bit disdainfully, knowing the Ministry he’d probably be forced to do it later anyways. No matter what happens it's probably better to just get it over with. He already has a feeling about the results but he could hope that the influence over the last three years will make enough of a difference to change that hunch. A meeting with the family? Really? He would really like to avoid having an awkward encounter with his father. Could be worse though, his mother might show up and try to make the meeting feel torturous somehow.
“Alright, anything else?” Madam Magpie said, looking once more over the sea of students, seeing the silence she nodded her head curtly. “We shall start then. First-years, you will take a seat on this stool when you're called,” unrolling the scroll containing the names of the new students, she coughed once before starting. “Ashe, Duncan.” A small boy with dirty blond hair bounded up the steps flashing a smile at two girls in the small crowd before sitting down. A few seconds pass before the hat shouts ‘SLYTHERIN’ into the silence of the hall.
And with that the sorting for the first-years felt like it passes by quickly. Two for Hufflepuff, another to Gryffindor. One of the girls that was with the boy, Olivia Green, had joined Ravenclaw while the other, the youngest Wilkes sister, joined her siblings and friend in Slytherin. Victoria Wilkes was the last first-year to get sorted and she calmly walked towards her new house table, smirking smugly at the Ashe boy before turning around and talking animatedly with the Green girl sitting behind her at the Ravenclaw table. You could clearly tell when looking further down the table that her family was bursting with pride. Not like it was obvious of course, thought Sirius wryly, turning his attention back to the Ministry representative.
Madam Magpie folded the parchment before stowing it away inside one of her robe pockets, taking out a much longer and larger rolled up piece from within the hidden spot. Amplifying her voice once again she said, “Now that the standard sorting is finished we’ll start the one everyone is clearly waiting for.” And it begins.
One by one people get called up, 2nd year to 7th year. A few Ravenclaws got shifted, mostly to either Slytherin or Hufflepuff, a notable mention to lovely Marlene McKinnon who got re-sorted into Gryffindor. When asked why she was in Ravenclaw when her true house was Gryffindor, all they got was a wary cryptic reply along the lines of being judged or annoyed for studying. To be fair, in Sirius’ opinion, he has seen a few people bullied in the house for being more focused on their studies than on some… extracurricular activities of sorts. He understood why she'd rather be in a house like Ravenclaw then Gryffindor in that case.
Slytherin goes next and, predictably, barely anyone gets sorted elsewhere. A measly three students, all younger years, go to Ravenclaw. He wouldn't be surprised if Slytherin had the lowest count of both students that get re-sorted and students joining out of all four houses. They're a very self-assured and proud group. If you're meant to be there, then there is usually no reason to argue the hat on it. And, well, it is known as the house of dark for a reason, most students in it come from dark families, new and old.
A few Hufflepuffs get re-shuffled, mostly to Gryffindor, an example being Fabian Prewett, a surprise since his twin stayed in Hufflepuff. There was an exception for Edgar Bones who, thinking about it now would make perfect sense, gets re-sorted into Ravenclaw. He didn't seem overly upset but his family have been Hufflepuffs for generations, it’s understandable that he's disappointed to break that tradition. He also understands that to a degree. He, after all, used the fact that the Blacks have always been Slytherins to his advantage when he chose his house when he was eleven. Just another reason why he thinks he won’t be sorted into Gryffindor again, he chose it.
“And now the house of Gryffindor,” she said, voice still strong even after an hour of being at the front. The butterflies threatening to break free from Sirius’ stomach turn up a notch at the proclamation.
A second year leaves to Hufflepuff, some of his housemates frown. No others get re-sorted and the nerves start racking up. The third-years are next, another one goes to Hufflepuff, one to Ravenclaw. Some of their fellow yearmates’ noses turn up at that. Next are the fourth-years, his year.
“Black, Sirius,” was called in the same dry voice all the others were. A general hush falls but he ignores it, everyone curious about where the notorious pranking Marauders will end up, especially the supposed light wizard Sirius Black. He hasn’t tried to dissuade any of those rumours, if anything the rumour mill will probably only get worse. He pats Remus' shoulder getting up, getting a squeeze of the arm and a half-hearted smile in return, before making his way up between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables.
Sitting down on the stool, he fiddles with his sleeve, a nervous tick he can't seem to get rid of while Madam Magpie places the hat on top of his head. A stilted voice disturbs his racing thoughts, ‘It seems we meet again Mr. Black, though a pity under such circumstances.’
Shifting uncomfortably he essentially begged, ‘If there is any chance, any at all, that I could go to Gryffindor or even Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, please do it.’ The hat chuckles a bit sadly in his head, ‘You know as much as I do that would simply be impossible. I said it to you when you sat here for the first time, and I will say it now, the house of snakes would fit you perfectly no matter how long you've tried hiding amongst the lions.’
Honestly that just made Sirius get a bit more desperate, ‘You can’t! Everything that I've done, everything that I've built for myself… I refuse. I need to be brave to do those things!’
'I'm sorry my boy, you heard the Ministry, I've been spelled against coercion. Whatever you say will not deter me. I'm just trying to make this as painless as possible. We've already spent too much time here and the others are getting more curious by the second.’
He snorted, ‘They’ll certainly get enough material to gossip with for the next few weeks.’
‘See! You’ve already accepted my decision.’
‘Not like I’m given much of a choice,’ he thought bitterly.
If a hat could smile reassuringly, Sirius was pretty sure the sorting hat would've done exactly that. ‘You’ll understand soon boy, listen to the Ministry representative, she did not tell any lies.’
Not even a second later the hat yells ‘SLYTHERIN’ into the silence. The only emotion he can exhibit was a sort of defeated slump of the shoulders while removing the hat and keeping his eyes away from the students sitting stunned beneath him.
A tap to the shoulder roused him from his depressing mood, turning to the woman next to him who was just gesturing towards the quill and parchment on the podium with a small comforting smile. Seeing how the woman had generally acted throughout the evening, he didn't think she'd have the capability to offer a comforting smile. It makes him feel more bitter than reassured.
Standing up, his robes shimmer and change, turning the golden red to the green and silver of Slytherin, the lion shifting into a snake. The change makes his already tense body more rigid. He slowly shuffles closer to the stand while pulling out his wand from his holster that he always has strapped to his arm. Distracted, he tapped his wand onto the quill and curiously watched it write ‘Sirius Orion Black’ in fancy letters. The letters themselves glowed a bluish white before suddenly disappearing in a flash, leaving the parchment blank.
Realising he has nothing to hold off the inevitable, he faces back towards the great hall. He purses his lips and starts making his way to the Slytherin table, the reactions of his new housemates, and isn't that just uncomfortable to think of them as, are ranged. From openly surprised, he's pretty sure he almost saw Andromeda fall off the bench, to indifferent. Looking at some of them more closely he noticed that their eyes gave some of their emotions away, curiosity and hesitancy shined the most.
He’s not surprised about the latter, a Gryffindor joining the snake den? That is just as likely as someone surviving the killing curse. Some of them have seemingly come to their own conclusions too, that perhaps the lion wasn't a lion in the first place. They wouldn't react like this if they didn't have an inkling of that possibility anyways. Slytherin and Gryffindor do not get along, and that in itself is an understatement.
Taking a glance at his former house he had to hide his body's natural reaction to flinch. Most of his housemates, mostly the older years, were glaring at him, some in betrayal, some in smug satisfaction that they were right about who he was. His eyes connected with Remus, his closest friend next to James, who gives him a reassuring smile and, most likely, kicks Peter in the shins since his other friend is quick to give him a comforting thumbs up after throwing the boy in front of him a small glare. Sirius drops his shoulders in relief. He's glad his friends don't seem to be affected by this, although he has a feeling Remus already knew. Peter is simply too sweet to think badly of someone for their house but peer pressure could go a long way and he wasn't confident that it would be a positive reaction that would reach him in the end.
He tries to catch James’ eyes but his brother in all but blood refuses to meet his eyes. Just seeing his pale face makes him want to go over and immediately reassure him that nothing is going to happen. That the rivalry and preconceived notions of the houses were all but hippogriff shit that has been egged on for the last few decades.
Turning his attention back to his new house, his face blanks. Avery and Rosier quickly open up a spot between them while giving him amused looks, almost grinning if not for the too public space. He fiddles with his robe sleeve and sighs before plopping down between them and crossing his arms, wearily looking at the other fourth-years uncomfortably.
“Never thought I'd see the day where we would find one of the famous Gryffindor Marauders in our house,” Dorcas Meadows said drily.
Juliette Wilkes, the older sister of Victoria Wilkes, leans forward smirking before saying, “Or the Black sheep of the Black family. Who knew that he was hiding some scales under that fur?”
Sirius rolls his eyes and ignores them, perking up when “Lupin, Remus” was called out. He watches his friend walk up to the stool and sit down, the hat being placed on his head. The others continue to shoot him thoughtful looks but cease anymore talking in the case that there might be another interesting sorting.
Ten, twenty but only after thirty seconds pass does the hat shout ‘RAVENCLAW’ to the assembly. His friend looks remarkably relieved, good for him Ravenclaw is probably the only neutral house out of the lot, and gets up to repeat the actions he had to do himself. Giving a tap to the quill Remus spins around in his new blue and bronze encrusted robe, shooting a comforting smile at the Gryffindor table where James looks like he is going a bit green. Smiling at Sirius as he comes down the row between the tables, they fist bump before he sits between Shacklebolt and Vance with the other fourth-years sitting further down.
Sirius shakes his head in amusement as he watches them immediately start talking about one thing or another. “Did you know this? You don't seem very surprised,” Meadows asks curiously, glancing over at the group of Ravenclaws before looking back at him with an eyebrow raised. Snape and Fieldwake both snort at the thought of him having a brain, only giving him unimpressed looks when he glares at them in offence. Honestly, do they not have anything else to do but laugh at his personality? Turning to Meadows, he huffs irritatedly, “Of course I knew he would go to Ravenclaw. It’s the same as how he knew I would go to Slytherin and how we know Peter will go to Hufflepuff.” He scowls before ending any possible conversation by ignoring them in favour of looking up at the call of “Pettigrew, Peter.”
As expected his tiny friend jumps at the shout of ‘HUFFLEPUFF’ only ten seconds after wearing the hat. Peter nervously looks around, giving a shaky smile in his and Remus’ direction, doing the required actions at the podium before walking over to sit with his new housemates.
By now the hall was filled with whispers of all kinds. Only quelling with the final fourth-year Gryffindor to be called up. “Potter, James.” No matter how pale he had become knowing his other friends got re-sorted elsewhere, he still strode up confidently as someone that truly comes from the Gryffindor house would do. Not even a second later once the hat touches his head does the same hat shout ‘GRYFFINDOR’ to the hall. The collective sigh of relief as something remains unchanged made Sirius genuinely snort in amusement. He does frown though when he observes James walk back to his seat, obviously ignoring Sirius’ side of the hall including Remus, but smiling happily at Peter behind him at the Hufflepuff table.
The rest of the sorting remains uneventful, a few more upper year Gryffindors get resorted into Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw before Madam Magpie rolls up the parchment with the list of names.
With a final glance at the students, she nodded curtly and said, “Well done everyone. Students with a meeting will get a note tomorrow morning at breakfast with the time of when and where it will be held. Thank you all for your cooperation.” With a nod of the head to the Headmaster sitting in the middle of the head table, she swiftly moved to the only free space located near one of the teacher entrances and in front of the Gryffindor table.
Giving a genial smile, a tightness showing around his eyes, Albus Dumbledore stood from the tall chair he was previously seated on. Giving a bit of a clap to gain everyone's attention he said, “Thank you Madam Magpie for conducting tonight's proceedings. Now before our banquet I only have a few words: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!” As soon as he was done speaking a countless number of foods suddenly appeared on the tables.
Sirius blinked in surprise at the diversity. There are all sorts of kinds, he can see some of the Slytherins with Italian roots surrounded by Italian food, the same with an upperclassman from Australia and the second-year from South America. They never got this sort of food at the Gryffindor table?! Ironically, he thought, the food around him was of French origin. Taking a glance at his brother and cousins, they too had mostly French cuisine surrounding them. Well this isn't fair, are you really telling him that he could've had French food this entire time?!
Raising an eyebrow, Rosier asked while absentmindedly cutting the piece of meat on his plate, “What are you so shocked for?”
Sirius frowns and hesitates before taking some boeuf bourguignon and adding it to his plate. “The Gryffindor table never had this sort of variety in food, usually we would just get standard food like chicken or even just typical British food,” he answered quietly. “I haven't had French food since the first week of summer at Black Manor, usually James’ family eat Indian or British food at home,” he mumbled the last part mostly offhandedly to himself, gathering some of the crêpes Suzette for later. Rosier, and in extension Avery who was listening silently, gave him a searching look that he gladly ignored.
He could practically feel the dagger-like stare from his brother a bit further down the table. It seems like that's a conversation he won't be able to get out of when they return to the common room. Or maybe he can feign tiredness? He was pretty sure that there are some who wouldn't want to be around a lion like him for long anyways.
The rest of the feast passed with most of the fourth-year Slytherins talking amongst each other with Sirius ignoring them in favour of finally being reunited with his favourite type of food. To be honest it really just gave him an excuse to avoid conversation. He has a feeling though that his luck will run out, the fact he'll be going down into the proverbial snake den soon is making him feel uncomfortably cold all over.
The boom of a voice took him out of his distractions. “Now that we’ve all been fed and watered I would like to clarify some of the more important school rules before we go off to bed. The forbidden forest is once again, as the name implies, forbidden and will have dire consequences if ventured into. Any prank products will be confiscated by our lovely caretaker Mr. Filch,” the food disappears with a swish of Dumbledore’s hand. “There will also be no midnight wanderings or random duels in the halls. If that is all, I believe that I wish you all a goodnight,” Dumbledore said in his warm grandfatherly voice before clapping his hands and gesturing wide. With that the noise in the hall doubles and the nerves return to Sirius’ stomach.
The Slytherins immediately start to mingle at the prompt dismissal from the Headmaster. Rosier tugs a disgruntled Sirius up and off the bench before dragging him to a slowly growing group of Slytherins, the same mixed-years group from the Hogsmead station, near the door.
When they make it most of the way there Sirius tugs his arm out of Rosier’s grasp, the boy in question pausing and giving him a look, before shrugging and moving to join the others conversation. He hesitantly moves closer, standing a bit to the side and deciding to just watch for a bit. Every now and then some of the Slytherins will glance over, most decided to leave him alone until they could reach the common room.
He startled as he got tugged into a little side hug from a passing Remus, his friend giving him a smile and a few whispered words of reassurance before joining the moving Ravenclaws out the door. He turns to try and find the other two members of their quartet but they weren't anywhere to be found. He frowns, he can't help but think in the back of his head that everything that's happened tonight has changed things beyond anything he could imagine.
Staring into nothing he flinched at the sudden appearance of Regulus at his side. Sirius waited for his brother to speak first, watching the fifth-year prefects now group up and lead the first-years out of the hall. “I was told to come get you, Cissy and ‘Dromeda are waiting,” he said, face giving nothing away on how he feels. “Everyone is extremely curious about you. But what I want to know is why my brother wasn't sorted here three years ago,” Regulus looked him in the eyes. “I hope you know that this is a big deal, not only to the family but also to the entire faction,” something flashed in his eyes before he gestured with his head towards the two girls waiting at the door, the other Slytherins already gone. “Come on, let's go.”
Sirius said nothing in response to that. He knows everyone is curious, if he was sorted into the wrong house then what other misconceptions have they had of him? Even his own brother is questioning everything he knows about him. Obviously the hat couldn't be wrong, it was spelled specifically to put you in the right place. There’s something that’s not matching up in this story. And if the hat is a hundred percent correct about his placement and the traits he most exhibits then that means there could be a completely different person hidden inside. Or so they believe, the looks they kept giving him spoke volumes of what they think. Slytherins are extremely perceptive, he wouldn't be surprised if they figured him out before the year ends. It's not like they're completely off the mark anyways.
Sighing, Sirius fell in step with his brother, walking towards the duo at the door where both of them are looking at him consideringly as they reunite and pass through the door to the great hall. Turning to the right they proceeded to the entrance staircase to the dungeons, he gives the other direction a wistful glance before following the trio, thinking up responses to possible questions that might be asked when they all meet back in the common room.
Not paying attention to the whispering happening next to him, he ends up leading their little group of four right to the wall where the hidden entrance can be found. Grimacing in realisation he tries to feign confusion by dropping back to the others, Regulus gives him a deadpan look and, feeling caught out, Sirius shrugs sheepishly.
Stepping up to the door, Andromeda, one of the seventh-year Slytherin prefects, paused before addressing Sirius, “This month's password is Tenebris, I’m not sure how Gryffindor does it but we change ours on the last day of every month,” she smiled at him before turning back to the wall and repeating the word. He watched the door move apart to show a glimpse of the room beyond, both girls none-the-wiser to his earlier slip-up. The only one that seemed to have noticed was Regulus who has now gone back to observing Sirius more closely again.
The girls entered the room with Sirius following behind and Regulus bringing up the rear. They moved towards one of the back corners of the common room, the rest of the students in the room looking at him as he passed, where there was a set of opulently carved sofas and armchairs in front of one of the numerous fireplaces around the room. Sitting on those seats were one of the biggest groups of Slytherins found in the common room.
Sirius noticed most of them had family or allied ties to each other, for example in his year there was Rosier and Avery Jr along with Mulciber, Snape and Wilkes. Meadows and Fieldwake were sat chatting with them, twin smirks on their faces. There were some younger years too, his brother's best friend Crouch Jr, the younger Wilkes sisters, Rebecca and Victoria, who dragged the boy from the sorting ceremony Ashe along with them. There were even more older years, including almost the entirety of the fifth-year students. Goyle, Isabella and Jasmine Wilkes, the Carrow siblings, the Greengrasses, Malfoy, Lestrange, Yaxley, Remus’ older brother Romulus, Selwyn, Zabini and more students he hadn't bothered to learn the names of before now. He honestly didn't realise that there were quite this many Slytherins but looking around now, the entire common room felt pretty full.
Narcissa and Andromeda moved to join their closer friends, not moving entirely far from the gathering of fourth-years that claimed the middle of the pack. His brother pushed him lightly to two free seats next to Snape and Mulciber. He reluctantly takes the furthest spot from the two, forcing Regulus to take the spot between the yearmates with an exasperated eye roll.
The arrival of the remaining four Slytherins caused most of the attention to turn to Sirius. Sighing annoyedly at the silence, he spat, “Well? Any questions? It's hard to ignore people who keep looking at me like that all the time.” He waited, unimpressed, while the others figured out what to say. They probably thought he would put up more of a fight, complain or maybe to remain stubborn in his silence.
Rosier snorted, “You still talk like a Gryffindor that's for sure.” He sighed and fell dramatically onto Avery sitting next to him who only shifted to accommodate him easily. “What we all really want to know is why and how you managed to get sorted into this house knowing what we know about you,” he drawled. “We have our suspicions of course. Some of us believe you’ve been hiding some things from everyone, others think the hat was wrong and the only reason you’re here is because they wanted the Marauders evenly spread between the houses. Which do you think it is Black?”
He frowned and then sighed, shifting to get a more comfortable position. Twisting his expression into a teasing smile, he said, “Believe it or not I had quite an argument with the hat in my first-year, basically begging it to put me in Gryffindor. It would make sense wouldn't it? There hasn’t been a single Black that hadn’t been sorted to Slytherin afterall. Plus I know for a fact that Remus was a shoe-in for Ravenclaw at the time, not to mention we never knew exactly how Peter got into Gryffindor, he didn’t have any of the traits.”
He smiled genuinely at the memory. The four of them promised on the train that they wouldn’t be separated by the notions of the four houses, he just realised that it might have influenced both Remus’ and Peter’s decision more literally. He was more selfish in that regard, he knew exactly why he didn’t want to be sorted into Slytherin when he was eleven.
He laughed, “We all agreed we wanted to be in the same house so we chose Gryffindor. As simple as that. It would make your second suspicion moot, no?” The reactions were varied but most of them sat in contemplative silence, listening interestingly. Ironically only Avery, Snape and his brother seemed to be paying more attention then he would’ve liked. He continued, “And the first point, well, the only thing that I could probably be hiding from everyone is a brain apparently. I don’t think I’m as stupid as you guys tend to think I am. Doesn’t matter anyways, I’m still the same person as before so don’t expect much of a difference in attitude.”
Sirius crossed his arms and leaned back smirking. Regulus narrowed his eyes, giving him a look he couldn’t think of deciphering at the present moment while Avery seemed to frown and Snape crossed his arms scowling, suspicion shining in his eyes. He quickly noted that those three are going to be harder to fool in the future, especially now that they’re in the same house.
Meadows hummed, an answering smirk threatening to spread across her face as she said, “That should be obvious, it’d be hard trying to hide a new person after all, especially from your entire family. Nice to know we won’t have to corral you to study to avoid you embarrassing our house though.” She said it in a jokingly offhand manner but he couldn’t help twitching uncomfortably at how close the statement came to his reality. Thinking more closely on it he’s pretty sure that there isn’t a person that he could say that know him for him. The persona he likes playing yes of course, but not who he actually is. The only person to see glimpses over the years had been Remus but he wasn’t sure if his friend had even realised it.
Pushing the thoughts back, he forced a laugh in response and before anyone could ask anymore questions, their Head of House, Professor Slughorn, entered through the entrance of the common room. Most of the attention immediately turned towards the Professor smiling jovially to the crowd of students in front of him.
Giving a little giddy laugh, Professor Slughorn said, “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! For all you new Slytherins I’m your new Head of House Professor Slughorn!” Looking around as if observing potential victims for his Slug club, his eyes caught onto Sirius where he quite literally lit up, a pleased smile growing on his face. Sirius shuddered, feeling his brother's shoulder shake in silent laughter at his reaction. He could only give a small glare towards him, Regulus staring innocently back, before Professor Slughorn recaptured his attention.
Professor Slughorn’s demeanour seemed to shift from one extreme to the other as he suddenly took on a more serious tone of voice, “You’ve probably learned the reputation this house holds. As a result we have a sort of unofficial code to keep in the Slytherin house. You’re united, a family and should be treated as such despite any differences that you hold outside the walls of this school. Under no circumstances,” he stressed the word, “should a Slytherin be found wandering the halls alone, always be accompanied by another. Finally, if you need any help the prefects, and in extension the head boy who is a Slytherin this year, will answer and aid you in whatever you need. That includes myself, ask the prefects but I’m sure you know where my office is located but the directions will be posted on the board in case you forget.”
With that the Professor's mood instantly turned more cheerful and gave a final address to the room, “I believe that’s all we need to speak about. It is getting late, there are no classes tomorrow and the schedules will be given on Monday because of the newly re-sorted students,” quite a few glances were shot in Sirius’ direction, “Which means it’ll give you another day to relax before the start of term. Now then, I wish you all a very goodnight!” He gave a final beam before turning and leaving the room, it wasn’t obvious but Sirius swore that he saw something cross his Professor's face as he was leaving, getting a scrutinising look when Slughorn turned to give another customary glance around the room.
The others seemed to think nothing was amiss as they went back to chatting. He listened absentmindedly to the chatter but he was feeling absolutely exhausted. Before he could pluck up the courage to interrupt a conversation Snape groaned in exasperation and jumped up and away from a teasing Fieldwake and cackling Mulciber. He turned to Sirius face harried and said, “You don’t know where the dorms are correct? You're supposed to be rooming with me and I plan to head to bed now to avoid these annoying,” and he gave the amused duo a look full of irritation, “prats. Considering how you look I'm assuming you'd also want to leave.”
The look he gave Sirius was pointed and alluded to a clear 'I'm going to go to bed now and if you plan on staying up then you better make sure that you don't wake me later.’ It was a somewhat clear threat, something he'd rather not figure out anytime soon. And anyways, he was tired and would rather be in the safety of a dorm than out here with inquisitive Slytherins that might see through his charade.
Nodding in acceptance he made the motion to get up only to be stopped by his brother's arm and questioning glance. Gesturing with his head towards Snape standing near the end of the sofa, who was getting more impatient as the seconds passed, Regulus also nodded, looking at him a bit in hidden concern as he followed Snape into the boys section of the Slytherin dorms.
The layout was completely different to the Gryffindor dorms. It was obviously to be expected but he never realised how big the dungeons could be. They passed by the first and second year dorms, each door holding only two names on a small silver little plaque. Of course it seemed that each year had its own little hallway with the rooms facing each other, an arch with a snake-like pattern being the entrance to each. When entering the fourth-year corridor he noticed there were only four doors each holding those same silver plaques. He wondered if Snape had a roommate before his re-sorting? It's a possibility but the door that Snape stopped in front of clearly had the names 'Severus Snape’ and ‘Sirius Black’ etched onto them so he'll never know unless he asked.
Offhandedly Snape asked, “I am going to guess that the rooms in Gryffindor tower are a bit different?” He raised an eyebrow and twisted the knob, entering the room before Sirius could get a word in answer. Sirius rolled his eyes before taking a good look around the room he’ll call his own for the rest of the year.
To put it simply he thought the room looked remarkably cosy. It held two comfortably looking beds, they were made out of dark wood and carved with different breeds of snakes with silver lining the edges, the curtains usually placed for privacy were a nice shade of forest green with the bedspread sharing a similar colour but a tad bit darker. The Slytherin crest was etched onto the edge of the soft looking blankets placed near the foot of the beds. Both their trunks were neatly put in front of them.
Moving further into the room in a bit of wonder he noticed that the Slytherin rooms had their own fireplace and armchairs with a little table on a plush carpet, everything covered in the dark brown and green colours of the woods and fabrics as the beds. Small candles, non-similar to the ones in the Great Hall, were floating serenely near the top of the ornately sculpted stone ceiling. They even had separate desks and wardrobes placed on the two sides of the room. A door at the other end of the room, the furthest left of the fireplace, he guessed probably led to a bathroom.
He watched Snape collect and set his things away a bit speechlessly. He knew the dorms were different but this is similar to the opulence you’d get living in a pureblooded home if just in a smaller dose. He could just imagine the complaints some of the Gryffindors would have if they knew the Slytherins had so much space.
Just realising he hadn't replied to the, probably rhetorical, question he said, “I knew that the Slytherin common room was larger than the Gryffindor one but this is just unfair! We would have to live in the same room up in the tower yet you guys not only have a bigger room here, but it also only houses two people!” he pouted, walking to the edge of the bed across from Snape’s and sat down before perking up curiously while glancing out the huge window into the now dark lake. “Do all the rooms look like this?”
Snape paused his movements and his face seemed to have twisted into a conglomeration of different emotions by the end of the rant but it had predominantly settled on a form of revulsion at the thought of sharing such a room with more than three people. “Your old house is barbaric, do you know that?” he stated dryly, he continued before Sirius could really launch in any defences, “But yes they all look like this, with the exception of the prefects, head boy and head girl. They get rooms for themselves.” He turned back to fiddling with a stack of books he placed on the desk, face smoothing back into its mask of indifference.
He hummed, silence reigning as they both got ready to sleep. Snape, with his face blank and unbothered, gave him a look and said calmly, “I think you're lying about your reasoning for being placed here. What you said to the others in the common room? If you really were who you said you are then you would be up in Gryffindor tower right now. It is notorious for Slytherins to wear masks and act for their best self-interests and I suspect you're doing exactly that. I may not know the reason why but you won't be able to hide it for the next four years that you'll be here. This isn't Gryffindor Black but Slytherin.” Snape gave him one more look before taking the curtains and snapping them shut, the candles extinguishing in response. Sirius felt cold. He should've realised, should've understood, that this would be a lot harder than he expected. He couldn't help but huff internally, bloody observant Slytherins.