Slytherin cliques

[Severus Snape]

Severus was loafing around, he wasn't referring to it like that in his head, but it was in fact what he was doing. Classes had resumed and he liked the familiar ease of going to classes and understanding what was required if him. There was no mystery of what his professors expected of him. He was avoiding others again, trying in vain to blend into the walls and be unnoticed. Summer wasn't kind to him, even with his new uneasy friendship with one Remus Lupin. He was pouring trust into it, and it felt uncomfortable. It felt like he was exposing himself to something unpleasant and it stung a bit.
So, he found himself in his common room mulling over thoughts and feelings while trying to do nothing, and he rather thought he was succeeding.

[Thaddeus Avery]

Detention the first week. It was probably not something to be proud of, but Avery felt no shame. He'd played a practical joke on a couple of first-year Hufflepuffs, giving them directions to a hidden room that had no exit unless you knew the correct spell to open the door. They'd been trapped for three hours, banging on the wall outside Slughorn's office until he finally woke up from his nap and freed the hapless mudbloods.

It had been an easy trick, and they were easy marks. And in Avery's mind, they deserved it.

Fresh from his detention, Avery made his way back to the common room. As he walked in, he surveyed the room and spotted Severus Snape. Without hesitation, he strolled over and sat down next to the third year.

"Hey, Snape," he greeted Severus. "Glad to see you survived summer camp. Heard you were stuck with a bunch of rotten Gryffies."

[Severus Snape]

((I'll make the incident in the cabin end by Collin's abrupt return and setting order back, Fair?))

Severus reacted sedately to Avery's hello, He frowned at the mention of summer camp. He wasn't going to be able to escape what had transpired in the cabin. He didn't do badly he thought over all.

"You heard correctly, I was stuck with Potter's stupid little gang." His head hit the back of his chair with a dull 'thunk' "I could of handled them." he pulled himself up a bit in his seat.
"What about you? what did you do over summer hols?" he asked turning and giving Avery a thoughtful look.

[Thaddeus Avery]

(Yeah, that's probably the best way to go...)

"Bloody gits, Avery snarled, rolling his eyes. "You shoulda hexed 'em into obliviousness. They're just a buncha dumb Gryffies."

Of course, Avery didn't realize that his own comments had just shown him to be equally dumb; having meant oblivion and not obliviousness. But then, Avery was not exactly known for his brains.

"Actually, I was stuck at that lame summer camp, too. I guess we musta missed each other. I was in a cabin with Rosier and Crouch... we cut most of the activities. We woulda brought you along with us, but we could never catch up with you."

[Severus Snape]

Severus smirked and rolled his eyes, Avery's less than stellar brain power didn't make his show of support any less charming. "I was doing well enough, but that Collin interrupted our impromptu duel."

He shrugged inelegantly and added "Camp was a means to an end Avery, It served my purpose well enough." He was sure that response would be cryptic enough to make it seem Severus bigger and better things he was getting done rather than scribbling in his books and making music boxes that were currently squashed under his clothing in his trunk.

[Thaddeus Avery]

Avery grunted. "Eh, I suppose it coulda been worse. The whole summer being ordered around by my dad didn't sound much better. At least I got away from him for a while."

He didn't realize that, by revealing this, he was showing Severus a little of the common ground they bother shared. And even if he had, he probably wouldn't have been particularly surprised. In Avery's experience, most fathers were jerks who put unreasonable expectations on their sons and considered them to be perpetual failures. After all, Barty hated his father, and he was pretty sure that Rosier did as well. Was there even such a thing as a "good" father? Avery had never seen one.

"Y'know, I was thinking about joining the quidditch team. Maybe as a beater. What d'you think?"

[Severus Snape]

Severus took in the information; Avery didn't have much love for his father either. He was a man that expected a great deal from a son that seemed to either deem his expectations as beneath him or he actually lacked the talent to execute what was needed to reach those expectations. Severus decided to believe the latter.
Avery was making following his conversation difficult if he was going to want to talk about quidditch, but Severus could follow the game as well as any other boy, and if he wanted to be fair he could say easily that Avery could do very well.
"You do have the build for it." Severus said smoothly, tracing his mouth with his finger, which he stopped doing. it was a bad habit. He pulled his hand away from his face and laid it on the armrest of the chair he was sitting in.

[Thaddeus Avery]

Severus was quite right in his assessment. Avery was neither brilliant nor talented, and he never felt he could measure up to most expectations. He was basically a thug, and had long since accepted that designation... it was only his father that expected better of him. He probably could have tried harder, studied more... but what was the point? It probably still wouldn't be good enough and he'd forever be pushing himself further and further beyond his limits, when Avery really already felt he'd hit the wall of his own capabilities. But he could be cruel, and that was all he'd really need to get by.

He shrugged. "Yeah, that's what I think. All I really gotta do is stay on my broom and whack at bludgers. I thought it'd be cool." He knew Severus wasn't a big quidditch fan, so he changed the subject. "What about you? Think you'll join the dueling club this year? You were pretty good at it, if I remember."

[Severus Snape]

Severus smiled at the memory of Dueling Club. Even if he dueled what was at one time his closest friend, he had come out of it the winner. It wasn't that he didn't care for Rori anymore, but she had other things to occupy herself with. They had grown apart and Severus wasn't overly hurt by it, he had become fairly involved with Natalie, as his friend, she seemed to accept him the way he was.
"Yes, I will. Dueling is enjoyable. Professor Rothschild's husband is a very accomplished duelist, even if he has a ghost in his classroom" He shrugged the last of his statement, he liked his professor even if he did take slytherin points away at times. To be earnest with himself, sometimes some students deserved the humiliation of being the reason for the deduction.