Disclaimer: I only own my plot and chars.

A/N: Ok.. well, you think you nkow where the story is going, or you don't. either way.. If you want to guess (Gweneth lol) please do so on another story so no one sees your guess. Sometimes the guesses may be almost right, giving away important plot points. No offense to anyone who's guessed, but I need mystery and suspense in my story. Other than that, thanks for my comments. I'm so happy I have true fans. -)

Chapter 26: Aftershock

Sunday, lovely Sunday. I woke up late, for I was exhausted from the dance. It was around ten-thirty a.m. when I finally exited the Common Room. I was finally able to relax this weekend. All of my work was finished, and there were no tests tomorrow, so I didn't have to study too much. I decided to do something I hadn't done in a long time: Go to the library.

In I went to at last return the book I had borrowed a long time ago. I hadn't been in the library since then. The librarian laughed at how long ago I borrowed the book Snape recommended. I completely forgot that I had also lent him a book that I just finished that day. My plan for today was to visit Snape in his class to get my book back...If he was done.

As I couldn't really find any books I wanted to check out, I decided to stare out the window and think. Everything Snape told me from the night before had finally sunk in. I really did need to get my act straight. Maybe I would get enough guts to at last tell Draco that there was a drop of hope for him and I to start a relationship. After all, I did like him. Who was I kidding trying to deny it? Myself I guess.

"Professor Snape?" I opened the classroom doors and was surprised to see no one there. The room was utterly empty of human beings. Until Snape came out from his office.

He saw me, went to his desk, and aknowledged my presence, "Yes, Miss Maguire?"

"I umm," Started to twiddle my thumbs, "was wondering if you had my book I lent you near the beginning of the school year."

"Oh!" He was surprised, as though he had forgotten all about it, "I finished it last week. With correcting papers, tests, and doing everything a professor has to do, I had so little time to read it. I did fancy it though. Great plot, but did Felice really have to leave Marcus for that silly little twit anthony?"

Laughing I blurted, "I hated that point too, but she was so brainless in that chapter. At least she made it home alright." I was referring to the characters as if they were real.

"Yes, that redeemed the story. I wouldn't of kept reading if she hadn't gone home. But everything else in the novel was quite alurring." Snape took my book out of the top desk draw. He handed me the book and half-smiled. (His signature expression besides sneering.)

I flipped through the pages of the book expecting some letter or secret paper to fly out of it. I'd always wondered what professors did with their spare time, and if they ever wrote love letters to other professors. Snape didn't, unless he hid the letters in his robe pocket. What am I thinking? Snape with a love letter? He'd probably tear it up, knowing his bad temper and all. But...I knew there was some kind side to him.. Some gentle and caring side to him that he didn't want anyone to see. Yet, he showed me a gentle side last night when he gave me his speech on love. Perhaps he once had his heart broken and didn't want to see anyone else have the same situation.

Snape snapped me out of my spaced-out self, "Miss Maguire, are you alright?"

"Yeah, why?" I wondered what he was talking about.

"From last night," He glanced at the concrete floor, "Are you alright from last night?"

Oh...Last night.. "Yes," My mouth went dry, "I...I'm fine. Y-You really helped me, Professor...Sir.." Cue the twiddling of the thumbs, even with a book in hand.

"That's good to hear," He shot a sympathetic glance in my eyes, "and don't worry about the crying..I won't say anything to anyone. I know how you are with hiding your tears away. Many people do it. It isn't very healthy, but I guess it gives some confidence to the person."

"Actually, it's true. Not showing tears makes me feel a little stronger." I wasn't lying.

Sighing, Snape concluded, "If you don't need anything else...I'm not trying to be rude, but I have a lot of work in my office to complete.."

"Oh, yeah," I was snapped back to reality, "I'm sorry.. Uhh..thanks for my book."

Nodding, Snape turned his back to me and went back in his office. I was left in the cold Potions room with nothing but the scent of Snape trailed behind him. He smelled like lonliness...

I left the Potions classroom and dropped my book off in the girl's dormitory. Wanting to find Draco, I searched most of the castle. I ended up finding him in the great Hall, playing chess with his pals. Suddenly, I grew the guts to approach the Slytherin table, tell draco I needed to talk to him, and pulled him up from his seat by the collar of his shirt. What the hell was wrong with me?

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Draco spoke my thoughts exactly.

His pals glared at me and I responded, "We need to talk, I said it once. Do I need to drill it in your mind, or are you capable of hearing correctly?"

"Ok..ok..We'll go in the hall and talk." Draco was obviously a little frustrated at my sudden act of cruelty.

We left the Great Hall and stood near a pillar. The hall was pretty empty, only a lost ghost was wandering aimlessly.

"Draco," I started shyly, "I'm sorry I was a little spazed out in there, but I needed to get your attention."

He retorted, "Well you got it, alright. What's up?"

"I need to talk to you about the time you asked me if I liked you." He rolled his eyes and I went on, "Back then I denied liking you...I was afraid and scared...and I was completely against the 'L' word. But now...After all that's happened to me this year, I finally realized maybe taking a chance, even if I don't want to, wouldn't be a bad idea. I've been hit hard in the head to realize that relationships are a part of life, and if I don't try and have one at some point, I will grow up and old maid..Lonely...and depressed. And considering the situations we went through, I figured out that I do like you.. So, will you be my boyfriend?"

Centuries seemed to go by as Draco kept his mouth closed and stared at the pillar. With a sigh, he replied, "Maranda... All this time you liked me, and you didn't say anything. You crushed me.. I was ready to take a girlfriend, and you denied me. It doesn't matter how hard you're hit in the head to realize something.. Because sometimes...It's too late."

Draco left me next to the pillar. He didn't want me..

He doesn't want me..

The thought of being single burned my head. I never thought after all that I learned, all that I accomplished, that it would come back to bite me in the butt. I deserved such heartbreak and heartache, right? I wasn't crying, and didn't even want to. You'd think I'd hide some tears away at this point, but I felt nothing. My heart was neither hurt nor aching. I somehow felt as normal as I ever was. Alone, like always, and empty, as always. And then it occured to me, Maybe this just wasn't supposed to happen. Perhaps it was my fate to live a lonely, single life. And I couldn't avoid fate.

0o0o0o0o

Monday, birds chirped to wake me up to another sorrowful day. My heart was still beating, my lungs still inhaled and exhaled air. I was still in one piece like nothing ever happened yesterday. In fact, the Draco situation didn't pop up in my mind at all, not even when I saw him in the halls or classes. my life was back to normal, and I was back to hating love. If there was such a thing, then why did it not come to me when I asked?

Everyone was wrong; When two people are in a relationship, there is no love.. It's all just a figment of their imagination.

Just like I was a grain of sand in the beach of life...

I just don't matter.